It may have been billed as a family fun day out, but on the pitch the business of football was deadly serious.
Birmingham City dominated the first half of the match putting the Chelsea goalkeeper under pressure time and time again.
In the stands was Daniel Spencer, whose sister Becky is the Birmingham City goalkeeper.
He travelled from London with 10 members of his family to lend her some vocal support, and said women's football has come a long way since Becky started playing.
"It gets more support than it used to but it could do with more coverage," said Daniel.
"It's a good game but she (Becky) has not had much work to do so far."
That didn't last long and, in the first few minutes of the second half, Chelsea's Helen Lander scored.
After that, the match became tougher for both sides as every player gave their all under the searing heat.
Birmingham City continued to pile pressure on the Chelsea goalkeeper but could not find a way to break through.
In the stands family groups mixed with die-hard football fans and whooped, cheered and groaned at every turn on the pitch.
James Hartley travelled from Worcester for the game.
"I've been coming to the women's FA cup final for a few years now and, to be honest, I prefer it to the men's game," he said.
"They don't wimp around on the floor – they tackle and get on with it. It's a much more exciting game."
Certainly the tackles were getting harder as the pressure mounted. In the dugout the managers paced and gesticulated as the players slugged it out on the pitch and a Chelsea victory looked in the bag.
Then, thrillingly, in the first minute of stoppage time Birmingham City found a gap and Rachel Williams broke through the Chelsea defence bring the scores level at 1-1.
With 30 minutes of extra time, tempers grew increasingly short. Chelsea's Kate Longhurst scored in the first half then City's Karen Carney took her chance in the dying minutes of the second half to take it to a penalty shootout.
At this point, 10-year-old Kiera Feighery was on the edge of her seat. She plays right midfield for Gloucester City Ladies and was nominated to be one of the flag bearers.
"It's an amazing game – really, really exciting," she said.
Hardly able to watch the penalty shootout, Keira saw her team, Birmingham City, clinch the 2012 Women's FA Cup as Karen Carney hit home the winning penalty.
"That's what she wants to do - be on that pitch, playing for that trophy," said Keria's mother and, while Chelsea may have lost, some consolation may be that the game they played today has been an inspiration to a whole new generation of women's football players in Bristol and beyond. �
Click here for a special look at women's football in Bristol plus video and photos from the FA Women's Cup final between Birmingham City and Chelsea. See our exclusive video interview with Birmingham city striker Eniola Aluko below...
No comments:
Post a Comment