Lincoln 3 v 2 Blackburn

Lincoln City Ladies overturn mighty Blackburn Rovers to power their way to the FA Cup semi-finals
Lincoln (2) (3 AET) v (2) Blackburn

The Lady Imps booked their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday by beating National Division Blackburn Rovers by three goals to two after extra time.

A captains equaliser from Megan Harris and a superb brace from City left midfielder Kerry Smith were enough to take Lincoln through to the semi-finals of the most prestigious Cup competition in the country, and make history for their club.

Both sides entered into the match cautiously, much of the the play remaining in midfield, but the first meaningful chance fell as early as the second minute, when Blackburn’s Katie Anderton unleashed a shot from just outside the area, forcing a good diving save from Lincoln and England ‘keeper Kay Hawke.

Lincoln retaliated just five minutes later after winning a corner – Nic Stray’s flag kick fell near the penalty spot, and the ensuing goalmouth scramble resulted in Blackburn just managing to clear the ball.

On 19 minutes, a Leandra Little free kick caused panic in the Blackburn defence – the ball falling to Lincoln’s prolific striker Jodie Snelson, but her effort from ten yards skied high over the bar letting Blackburn off the hook in what might have been a decisive moment of the match. ‘I normally kick them in for fun’, said Jodie after the match. ‘I really don’t know what happened with that one’.

With 27 minutes of the match gone, Anderton eventually reaped Blackburn’s just reward for some good passing football around the fringe of the Lincoln area – the ball eventually fell to the Rovers striker just inside the box on the right hand side – she took two paces forward and fired the ball expertly from wide past the outstretched hand of Kay Hawke to make the score 1-0 to the visitors.

The first half ended with City’s Leandra Little heading just wide and Blackburn shooting just over the bar from outside the area.

Lincoln’s striker Jodie Snelson, after taking a very hard knock just outside the Blackburn box with ten minutes of the half to go, was replaced at half-time by Carla Ward.

The second half began in extremely competitive mood, with viciously hard tackles flying in from both sides – and on 50 minutes Anderton was booked for kicking Carla Ward while she was lying down injured on the ground. The resulting free kick was floated goalwards by Nic Stray – with the Blackburn keeper rising for the ball City captain Megan Harris flew in with her head and flicked the ball firmly past the gloves of the goalie and into the back of the net to level the score.

With 66 minutes gone City’s left winger Kerry Smith indicated her intentions when she fired a shot in from just inside the area which hit the near post and bounced back into play.

And with 74 minutes on the clock, Smith got her just reward. A gloriously accurate cross from Sophie Barker out on the right hand side beat the keeper and found the head of onrushing Kerry Smith at the far post – Smith twisted the ball off the side of her head into the back of the net to give the home side an invaluable lead.

When it looked as if Lincoln might win the match in full time, a piece of Katie Anderton magic gave Blackburn a second bite of the cherry. A long ball over the top of the Lincoln defenders found Anderton just outside the box – she powered her way into the area and finished cleanly past the helpless Lincoln keeper.

Extra time was a tense affair, with much of the play again being confined to midfield. But with eight minutes of extra time accounted for, Lincoln crossed the ball into the Blackburn area – another goalmouth scramble resulted in a shot rebounding of the keeper only to fall into the path of the predatory Kerry Smith, who fired as hard as she could towards the net to give her side the winning goal, and make FA Cup history for her club.

The game was by no means over at that point – Blackburn threw everything bar the kitchen sink at Lincoln for the remain 22 minutes of extra time, but the Lady Imps defended powerfully to frustrate Rovers, and on the break Lincoln could well have gone further ahead had Carla Ward’s shot not been saved magnificently by the Blackburn keeper. A last ditch attempt using route one football by Blackburn resulted in Kay Hawke having to pull off a very spectacular save from Anderton, and Anderton put one high over the bar in the dying minutes of extra time, but Lincoln held on to their precious one goal advantage to book themselves a priceless place in the Semi Finals of the Women’s FA Cup.

‘Today was all about the girls,’ said ecstatic Lady Imps manager Rod Wilson. ‘the commitment and belief they showed over the whole of the match, to be able to come back from behind in the second half and then to win the match in extra time after having Blackburn level the score in the final minute of full time is a massive achievement, and shows the character of the players in my squad. Myself, my assistant Sam Willett and Chairman Geoff Adams always felt that this was a match we were capable of winning, and I can assure you that this is no disrespect to a very good Blackburn outfit, it just underlines the quality of players we have in our squad at the moment. It is a monumental achievement to reach the semi-final stage of the FA Cup, and I not only want to thank and congratulate my players for this achievement, but I also want to say a huge thank you to our kind sponsors, in particular Ray Trew of Contracting Solutions and SportsTV and the Lincolnshire Coop for their support, without whom none of this would be possible’.
From Geoff Adams