lol

Well let me put it this way: sometimes (maybe in one game in ten)
our Kelly does not play on her usual Kelly level
which is still better than most of the players in the lague on their best day.

Can I get away with it?

mmmmmmm????well..........yeah thats a good point so you can get away with that one.lol

one game in ten tho?????mmm lets just say one in fifteen and call it quits yeah????

*phew*

Arsenal will meet Leeds in the final of the FA Cup
after Leeds beat Liverpool 2-0 (both goals by Sue Smith)

From Arsenal.com:

A towering header from Jayne Ludlow in injury time of extra time
sent Arsenal into the Women’s FA Cup Final for another year.

Vic Akers’ side dominated Charlton throughout Sunday’s Semi-Final
and their keeper Pauline Cope was forced into a string of fine saves.
But Arsenal only had Julie Fleeting’s header midway through the second half to show for their efforts.
That was quickly cancelled out by Eniola Aluko
and there looked like being no addition in extra time until Ludlow met Rachel Yankey’s corner
with virtually the last touch of the game.

Seconds later the wild celebrations could start.

Arsenal were quicker off the blocks in front a crowd of well over 1,000 spectators at Bishops Stortford FC.
After only five minutes, Faye White won the ball on the right and tapped a short pass to Lianne Sanderson.
The 18-year-old floated a superb ball to Fleeting just outside the area.

The Scottish striker cut inside her marker and fired low to the left of Cope.
The former England No 1 thrust out a hand to parry the ball aside.
It would be the first of many saves for the overworked stopper.

A minute later, Cope was flinging herself in the opposite direction.
This time to block a long-range effort from Yankey.
The former Fulham winger was to have an influential first half.

Charlton remain hot on the heels of leaders Arsenal in the Women’s Premier League
and, of course, boast that League Cup victory over Akers’ side a few weeks ago.
They responded immediately with, arguably, an even clearer chance.

Katie Chapman flicked the ball over the head of Mary Phillip
but volleyed straight at Emma Byrne as the Arsenal keeper rushed out to block.
The Irishwoman deserved a proportion of the credit for cutting down the angle with such alacrity.

Still, in general, Charlton were needing to show the qualities suggested in their nickname — The Valiants.
Arsenal could not reproduce that early flurry for the rest of the half
but, in terms of possession and territory, they were in command.

Sanderson forced Cope into further gymnastics soon afterwards
with a long-range free-kick and Ludlow had a goal-bound shot blocked from a corner.

Charlton stayed sharp on the break but could sustain little.
Still, on the half-hour it took a combination of White and Phillip to smother the skills of Aluko at the near post.

In injury time the deadlock should have been broken.
A Charlton corner was cleared and Sanderson threaded the ball through for Smith,
who steadied herself at the near post but could not beat Cope,
who thrust out a right leg to block the ball. Her defence did the rest.

The Charlton keeper continued to be overemployed at the start of the second half.
After two minutes she repelled another free-kick from Sanderson as it headed for the top corner.

In the 57th minute, Cope batted away a fierce shot from Yankey at the near post
following fine approach work from Smith and Sanderson.

The 18-year-old was becoming increasingly influential.
Around the hour she forced Cope into two more saves.
First from long range and then after she had collected Yankey’s lofted cross-field pass
and raced into the area.

If Cope was already on overtime then the next save was worth a bonus.
Smith cleverly found space on the left and crossed into the centre,
Fleeting met it with solid sidefoot shot.
It seemed destined nestle high into the net but the 60-cap keeper fingertipped it over the bar.

Despite Cope’s best efforts, the defence in front of her was becoming increasingly bedraggled.
In the 70th minute it was breached.
Alex Scott drove forward through the centre and flicked the ball out to Sanderson on the right.
Her cross was tipped high into the air by Cope at the near post
and Fleeting had the simplest of jobs to nod home into the unguarded net from virtually on the goalline.

The lead was thoroughly deserved. But it would last only four minutes.

Casey Stoney thumped a free-kick forward and it was nodded onto Aluko on the edge of the area.
She held off her marker superbly before swivelling and sending a low shot past Byrne.
It was a sickener for Arsenal.

They might have re-taken the lead in the minutes that followed.
Sanderson again stung the hands of Cope,
Yankey’s shot was deflected over at the far post and the keeper made a sprawling save from Smith’s free-kick.
But, at the other end, Aluko could have stolen the time at the death
when she sent a diving header just past the near post

It seemed that nothing was going to prevent extra time.

Arsenal had the first chance into the added period.
After eight minutes, Sanderson won the ball in midfield and sent Ludlow clear in the left-hand channel.
She had a clear sight of Cope’s goal but Eartha Pond raced back
to deflect the eventual shot wide of the upright.

Four minutes later, Smith fled down the right and crossed for the unmarked Yankey at the far post.
Her shot was blocked and the ball rebounded to Smith who had a blanket of bodies between her and the goal.
She could not force through her shot.

Stoney planted a header against the Arsenal bar within seconds of the restart.
But both sides were tiring by now and they could muster little in the final quarter of an hour.

Until Ludlow had the last laugh.

There's not much I can add about yesterday's game, But I'd like to say that this was only the second time I've watched Alex Scott, and I was so critical of her after the League Cup final, I'd like to make up for that by saying that she had an outstanding game, and fully deserves the plaudits I generally see.

Agent Smith removes her foot from her mouth glad to hear Alex and Emma having good games, maybe the break at the Algarve did Emma some good - more focused perhaps

poor Kelly
but great comment Agent S, had me in fits, still giggling now

More tanned that's for sure Being so pale I'm just jealous


Kelly was fine, but for a moment I was really worried that she was hurt
when she was on her neck - upside down, kicking the air, not able to come back to Earth
I recorded it and if you're nice to me, I can Byrne it for you + Julie's goal
and the celebrations after Jayne's goal when the whole team jumped on one another
with Kelly jumping on top of them (on someone's shoulders), screaming her head off

WHAT A GAME IT WAS !!!!!!!

Bless you seem all excited - glad ya's had a good time
just wish I didn't live all the way up ere then I could watch matches like that. Extra time aswell - you deffo got your moneys worth

That game was worth a lot more than those silly 3 Pounds

so cheap!!! I will make the effort to travel via train at some point and watch a game....

Borehamwood always charge 2 Pounds and you get the match programme gratis

And the season is nearly over...

I know the season is nearly over
so much to do, so little time there's always next season....
plus damallsvenskan starts soon - so figuring out all that Swedish will keep me occupied

On Sunday I will be celebrating 4 months of watching women's footie by watching the England - France game at Ewood. I've calculated that that will be my 10th game, and total entrance fees for those games will be £24.50

The last men's game I saw happened to be Blackburn - Arsenal, also at Ewood, and it cost £34.

Twmcat forgot to add that he will be proudly supporting ENGLAND women
May I never catch you shouting "Viva la France" or something!

Hahaha - oh dear - I don't know what I'll do until I get there.

I suppose I'll look stupid if I shout for Wales

Twm should support his second country England

We all know he's gonna or he's gonna be in trouble with a certain Agent S

I know I'm going to be in trouble lol, especially if I support my second country by ancestry (Ireland)

Especially?
I love Ireland! You can even support them when they ever play England
cos they will lose anyway
As long as you won't support France next Sunday, you'll survive

OK - I'll do my best not to sing the Marseillaise if France score lol

Back on topic: article from the Charlton site:

Keith coping with heartache

Charlton women's team manager Keith Boanas was still feeling the pain of defeat on Monday
- 24 hours after the Addicks exited the FA Cup in the semi-finals.

He had watched in disbelief on Sunday as an extraordinary performance from veteran goalkeeper Pauline Cope
came within seconds of taking his team into a penalty shootout against rivals Arsenal.

But ultimately there was heartbreak as Cope was unable to keep out a header from Jayne Ludlow
just before the end of injury time at the end of extra-time.

"It felt worse on Monday than it did after the match," admitted Keith.

"Copey was out of this world; I think she wanted to finish her career in the cup final
and maybe at The Den where she started her career.
Her performance alone deserved a win for us.

"We didn't deserve to lose in that manner,
and if it had gone to penalties I would have had us down as favourites." *

Ludlow's winner came via a corner,
and Boanas admitted his players has switched off slightly towards the close of the gruelling clash
as the final whistle drew nearer.

"It was one of the best games of women's football you will ever see for a long time
and I can't heap enough praise on the players," he said.

"The pace of the game was extraordinary.
It was a quickly taken corner and everyone was dead on their feet waiting for the whistle to go
to take it to penalties.
It was a split-second loss of concentration really."

"We hit the crossbar not long beforehand and had one or two goalmouth scrambles
where we could have nicked a goal, but you have to be honest and say
that on another day they could have scored four or five as well."


For the Gunners part, Arsenal manager Vic Akers admitted
Cope had been the player of the match and didn't deserve to be on the losing side.

"It was a close game and right up to the last few minutes it was a problem for us," he said.
"We made so many chances in the game but it just would not go in for us.

"We deserved to win and it would have been an injustice if it had gone to penalties.
But their goalkeeper was outstanding and, in fairness, did not deserve to be on the losing team.

"She pulled off four or five magnificent saves.
Any keeper would have been proud of the one from Julie Fleeting's volley."

Amazingly, the next instalment in the Charlton v Arsenal epic comes on Wednesday night
when the two teams face one another in the final of the London Cup.
And following the exit of the FA Cup from the Valley trophy cabinet,
the Addicks will be keen to hang on to another trophy they lifted last season.

The match takes place at Metropolitan Police FC on Wednesday, March 22nd,
and will feature a mixture of the two clubs' first and reserve sides,
with the England squad having met up ahead of Sunday's World Cup qualifier against France.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* I have to agree here - Byrne v Cope - we wouldn't stand a chance.
Sorry Emma, but that's what I think...

It was one of the best games I've been to for skill and excitement, and I know Agent S was a bit bothered about the possible penalty shoot-out as Pauline Cope was brilliant.

It was a shame for Charlton that they they lost the way they did.