The quarter-finals of the FA Cup took place over the weekend and even though there weren’t any upsets/surprises, there were some ties that had that special feeling/stories you can only really get in the FA Cup. I attended two of the ties and will start my round-up with those.
On Friday evening at Meadow Park, I saw 14 times winners of the cup and leaders of the WSL, Arsenal, take on Championship side Coventry United. Coventry had been minutes from going out of business in January so even to reach the quarter finals for the first time in their history was a bit of a miracle in its own right. Arsenal were the better side in the first half but it took until the 39th minute before they took the lead when Stina Blackstenius headed in. Coventry United’s best chance of the match came two minutes later when Grace Riglar’s header went over. Beth Mead made it 2-0 in the 59th minute with her first touch two minutes after coming on as a substitute and Nikita Parris scored Arsenal’s third four minutes later. Vivianne Miedema completed the scoring when she made it 4-0 to Arsenal in the 77th minute as they made it through to the semi-finals.
On Sunday, I headed to Suffolk and the Goldstar Ground in Felixstowe to watch the only remaining National League side left in the cup, Ipswich Town, play against West Ham United who play in the WSL. The match had sold out within 24 hours and some additional tickets that had been put on sale also went quickly with 2000 sold in total. Arriving at the ground about two hours before kick-off and half an hour before the turnstiles opened, there was already a bit of a queue and by the time the gates opened it snaked its way across the whole field outside the ground to the car park 150/200 meters away. Once inside the ground, I found a spot and stayed there for the match with the crowd being at least 2/3 deep around the pitch and people stood on the benches outside the clubhouse to get a view of the action. There were even some people watching out of windows from the houses over the road from the ground. Definitely something about that magic of the cup about this!
There were not that many clear chances until Sarah Quantrill made a fantastic save for Ipswich after 29 minutes to keep out Lucy Parker’s header. West Ham did take the lead three minutes later when Lisa Evans scored. Quantrill made another good save in the second half to deny Claudia Walker. West Ham held on fairly comfortably to win 1-0 with Ipswich’s best chance being a header from a corner that went well wide. Ipswich can be proud of this display against a side from two tiers above them though and got deserved applause from the crowd when they did a lap of the pitch after the match. They can now go back to their promotion challenge in the National League Southern Premier Division.
At the Academy Stadium on Sunday afternoon, there was an all WSL tie between Manchester City and Everton in what was a repeat of the 2019 final. Lauren Hemp gave City the lead when she finished Ellen White’s flick on from close range after 34 minutes. City increased their lead two minutes after the break when Hemp got her second. Caroline Weir scored a cracker from outside the area in the 61st minute to make it 3-0 and Ellen White made it 4-0 in injury time with a finish from close range as Manchester City got through to the semi-finals.
The final quarter-final took place at Kingsmeadow on Sunday where the current holders, Chelsea, played Birmingham City in a repeat of the final of 10 years ago. Chelsea took the lead after 44 minutes when Ericsson headed in from close range. Drew Spence scored her 50th goal for Chelsea when she made it 2-0 in the 50th minute with a finish from just inside the area. Bethany England scored Chelsea’s third finishing off Spence’s lovely backheel assist in the 62nd minute. Four minutes later Niamh Charles headed in and England completed the scoring in the 72nd minute with her second and Chelsea’s fifth with a shot from the edge of the area.
The semi-final draw has been made-
West Ham United v Manchester City
Arsenal v Chelsea
These ties are scheduled to take place on Sunday 17th April and keep on eye on @VitalityWFACup/club’s social media etc for information regarding venues, kick off times and tickets.
Written by Paul Donegan (@PaulDonegan1980 on Twitter and Instagram)
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