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Chelsea Ladies 1 - 1 Leeds United Ladies (AET)
Leeds win 6-5 on penalties Leeds United Ladies will be in Monday's draw for the FA Women's Cup quarter-finals thanks to some great goalkeeping by debutante Emma Higgins.
A closely-fought tie between two FA Women's National Premier League sides ended in stalemate after 90 minutes and the first half of extra time. In the second half, Chelsea took the lead, only to be pegged back a minute later thanks to Leeds's leading goalscorer Amanda Barr, leading to the inevitable penalty shoot-out. Left back Alex Culvin seems to have come of age in recent weeks, this game was probably her best performance in a Leeds shirt, Alex defended magnificently on it and attacked down the left flank with flair and skill, putting in plenty of pin point crosses. After both teams had taken their first five, the score was tied at 4-4. At 5-5, Chelsea's penalty was saved by Emma Higgins, the Northern Ireland international and Leeds Metropolitan University student making her debut in goal for Leeds. Fittingly, it was another international, Sue Smith, who then struck the winning penalty to take Leeds into the last eight. A delighted Manager Rick Passmoore added " The girls gave me everything today, all of them. We didnt play as well as we can and we couldnt get our passing game going as I know we can, but what they did gave me was determination, great team spirit and they worked hard for each other. When your players give you everything they gave me you often come away winners. Both teams had a few chances, Sue Smith was so unlucky to see her shot crash off the post and young Mel Sutcliffe had a good chance,very early in the game. I was so proud of my players today , they deserve to be in that draw on Monday. We had to change the team around from recent weeks due to suspension and injury, Emma Higgins came in and made her debut in goal, she did very well and even saved a penalty, what makes her performance even more special is the fact that she spent the whole of Saturday stuck in an airport in Northern Ireland due to the strong winds, waiting for her flight to bring her back to Leeds, then she had to travel down to London late on Saturday night, so it was hardly the best preparation for her" |
