| Get the Mag | Get the News & TV | News Archive | Latest | |
FA Women's Cup Final 2006
The 2006 FA Women's Cup Final took place between Arsenal and Leeds United at Millwall FC on 1st May kick at 1pm. For the Fifth consecutive year the Final was broadcast live on BBC One. The game was a great day out for the family, which included a samba band, cheerleaders and face painters as well as the two teams packed full of international players. Women's Soccer Scene teamed up with TheFA to offer a family ticket competition. Six lucky people won tickets for this years FA Womwen's Cup Final. Match Report:
Arsenal 5 (Ward og 2, Fleeting 32, Yankey 34, Smith pen 72, Sanderson 76) Leeds Utd 0 Att: 13,452; at The Den, Millwall F.C. Arsenal turned on an outstanding and powerful display to win the F.A.Women's Cup for the seventh time in front of the second highest attendance at a Final. The Gunners were in unstoppable form against a gallant but outclassed Leeds side and recorded the biggest Cup Final win since Southampton defeated QPR 8-2 in 1978. Lianne Sanderson and Rachel Yankey were in irresistible form for the Gunners, who dominated the match from start to finish against a Leeds side which never gave up under pressure with Jess Clarke and Nicole Emmanuel both having good games. It was a sad farewell for England's record goalscorer Karen Walker who fought a losing battle up front for Leeds and left the field to a standing ovation near the end in her last major match before retirement. 
Arsenal got off to the start they wanted, going straight on the attack to try and capitalise on any early Leeds nerves. A sliced clearance from Lucy Ward led to a corner after two minutes of play and Rachel Yankey's inswinging kick was headed into her own net by Ward under pressure from Julie Fleeting.
Photo - Nicole Emmanuel tries to stop Rachel Yankey (James Prickett) Arsenal continued to look a pace faster and it took a superb save from Gemma Fay to foil Yankey after she had cut inside on a dangerous run. Fleeting should have doubled Arsenal's lead in the nineteenth minute when picked out by an accurate Jayne Ludlow cross but she sent her free header over the bar. The Scottish striker was given another chance a minute later as she latched onto Yankey's pass but Ward recovered well to make a last ditch challenge. From the resulting corner, Leanne Champ headed over at the far post. Arsenal continued to look sharp in attack and they added their second just after the half hour. Lianne Sanderson made a perfectly timed run down the right and slid the ball across for Fleeting to tuck the ball past Fay. Two minutes later, the game was effectively over after Arsenal were awarded a free kick on the right, 30 yards from goal. Yankey curled a sublime dipping shot over the reach of Fay and into the far top corner to put Arsenal three ahead. Leeds responded with Karen Burke firing a shot just wide but Arsenal were soon back on the attack with Fay making a vital smothering save to deny Fleeting a second goal. Sanderson sidefooted a shot just past the post at the start of the second half, following some good work on the right by Ludlow. Fay held an attempted lob from Fleeting at full stretch and the Scottish striker missed a glorious chance from close range after a terrific run down the left by Yankey. Kelly Smith struck the post after a superb passing move and the rampant Yankey was again denied by Fay as Arsenal threatened further goals. Fay again denied Fleeting a further goal from point blank range after Sanderson's free kick had been deflected in her path but Arsenal's pressure eventually told as Yankey was brought down by Jess Clarke in the area and Smith tucked home the resulting penalty. Leeds tried to rally, with Clarke their most impressive player on the day, and won a rare corner but Arsenal quickly added a fifth, Sanderson charging down Culvin's clearance before racing through to slot the ball past Fay. Rachel McArthur shot wide and Ciara Grant's 20-yard effort was tipped round the post at full stretch by Fay. A 25-yard drive from Faye White flashed inches wide in injury time as Arsenal finished the game on top and still seeking goals. Arsenal: Emma Byrne, Alex Scott, Leanne Champ, Jayne Ludlow, Mary Phillip, Faye White, Anita Asante, Kelly Smith, Lianne Sanderson, Julie Fleeting, Rachel Yankey. Subs: Ciara Grant (for Ludlow 72 mins), Rachel McArthur (for Phillip 76 mins), Cori Daniels (for Scott 83 mins), Kirsty Pealling, Gemma Davison. Leeds Utd: Gemma Fay, Nicole Emmanuel, Alex Culvin, Karen Burke, Mel Cook, Natalie Haigh, Natalie Preston, Sue Smith, Karen Walker, Lucy Ward, Jess Clarke. Subs: Sophie Walton (for Cook 51 mins), Tania Panesar (for Walker 84 mins), Sarah Owen (for Preston 84 mins), Julie Grundy, Sophie Clough.
Lianne Sanderson reflected on a whirlwind week which resulted in a Player of the Match display in the F.A.Women's Cup Final and first call up for the England senior squad. 
"I've been at Arsenal since I was nine years old and it is amazing to play in these games," said Lianne. "Going away with the England under-19s helped me - it was hard but I was up to match speed and it took my mind off the game, as I had been thinking about the Cup Final ever since we won the semi final.
photo: Lianne Sanderson - Arsenal LFC (James Prickett) "I do think about possibly playing for England but I just wanted to do well with Arsenal. My dad sent me a text on Tuesday to tell me I had got my first England call up for the Hungary game and it was a great moment." Julie Fleeting took her goal tally for the season to 17 goals in just 15 appearances but remained as modest as ever. "Most have been in the six yard box," she smiled, "and that is credit to the girls who make the chances. It's great to play in this team as you know that the chances are going to come. "It is such a big game in women's football and to finish the season in this way is brilliant. I'm disappointed I didn't score more but the important thing is that Arsenal won."
Vic Akers was delighted after Arsenal's stunning F.A.Women's Cup Final display in which they beat Leeds Utd 5-0 at The Den. 
"We played very well early on and created a lot of chances," said Vic. "We kept creating chances in the second half and just our finishing let us down at times.We said at half time that we must continue the way we were and we tended to pen them back in their own box.
photo: Vic Akers (James Prickett) "The first goal was the key as it settled the team down and it speaks volumes for the way we played the game. To win the Cup seven times is great but we want to keep going and win more in the future." Vic was full of praise for Player of the Match, and England new girl, Lianne Sanderson. "I've been arguing for a few months now that Lianne should earn an England senior call up and she fully deserves it," he said. "I look forward to watching her play for England for many years to come."
Julie Chipchase was still looking on the positive side after her side's 5-0 defeat in the F.A.Women's Cup Final to Arsenal. 
The Leeds United manager admitted that they were never able to recover after falling behind to a second minute goal. "We talked a lot about not conceding a goal in the first 15 minutes," said Julie. "Arsenal gained great confidence from the early goal and it knocked the stuffing out of us.
"After two goals in two minutes, you felt it was going to be a massive uphill climb from there." Julie revealed that Leeds went into the game with a specific plan to stop the threat of Kelly Smith. "We felt that if we could man-mark Kelly Smith, it would help our game and Nicole Emmanuel did okay. But we had the problem of Rachel Yankey playing well on the left hand side. We tried to get tight to her but then other players stepped up to hurt us. "The quality of our passing was not good enough and we couldn't get the ball to the strikers. This was the real disappointment for me as we never gave Karen Walker a chance to get into the game and she ended up being too isolated up front." Karen Walker remained philosophical after her last major match before retirement. "It was frustrating," she admitted, "but sometimes games against Arsenal are like that. I felt that I didn't get anywhere near involved enough and I was picking up scraps. It was just the way the game panned out. "It's not the way to go out but the chance to finish up with a Cup Final was fantastic. When the final whistle went, it suddenly dawned on me that this was the end of my playing career. "I've enjoyed everything - I've had more than my share of things in my career. I've got no regrets and no further ambitions and if you can finish your career saying that, you're lucky." Karen also had a positive message for her team mates. "For Leeds to get to a major cup final is progress," she said. "You have to learn lessons from this and take it on the chin, and grow stronger from it." |
| Page reads: |
© designed, created, hosted and managed by WWW Support Services (click for info)