Arsenal secured a place in their fifth Conti Cup Final with a 3-1 win over a battling Birmingham side, reports OLIVIA AMOS.
Sunday afternoon saw a feisty encounter at Boreham Wood between Arsenal and Birmingham City, as the two teams fought it out for a place in the 2015 Conti Cup final writes OLIVIA AMOS.
Arsenal dominated the first half and Jordan Nobbs was instrumental in all things good about the home side’s play. Lively and energetic, she summed up the team’s perfectly executed tactics – attacking, aggressive football with neat touches and quick one-twos to match.
The speed of Dan Carter was also a constant threat in attack, and she almost opened her account with a stinging shot from 25 yards which rattled the bar and brought gasps from both sets of supporters. Arsenal were keen to stride forward at every opportunity, and made good use of Alex Scott’s galloping runs from right back. It felt like it was only a matter of time before the goals came.
The home crowd (of 782) didn’t have to wait long for Arsenal to turn their pressure into goals when Marta Corredera finished off some neat midfield build up play with a sweet curling finish from 20 yards on 13 minutes. The Gunners’ confidence built from there, and the second goal came in quick succession only a minute later. Throughout the first half Birmingham were guilty of giving Arsenal too much time on the ball, and this lack of pressure gave them the opportunity to pick out Dan Carter with a long ball from defence. The work was far from done however, and the striker showed electric pace to leave the Birmingham defence in her wake before calmly lobbing the advancing opposition goalkeeper from the edge of the box. Arsenal were 2-0 ahead, in control and the home crowd were anticipating a goal fest.
Danielle Carter is raised aloft after netting her team’s second.
At the other end of the pitch Birmingham’s two strikers showed some skilful play and would have been more of a threat had they got to grips with Arsenal’s tactics to play a high line in defence. The linesman was, on a few occasions, a little enthusiastic with his offside flag, but Casey Stoney was marshalling the back line well and the Gunners never looked particularly troubled. Leah Williamson gave a particularly strong and assured display at left back.
The Birmingham captain Karen Carney never stopped running for the away side, but a lack of service from midfield meant her endeavours up front was often a lost cause. Despite this Carney still managed to carve out a chance from nothing when her wizardry dribbling skills led to a shot at goal, only for it ricochet off the Arsenal goalkeeper, on to the post and agonisingly along the goal line.
The home side started the second half as they finished the first, playing fast paced football and refusing to give Birmingham a second to breathe. Clearly they wanted to put the game to bed, and it looked as though it was over when Alex Scott found herself in the penalty area 2 minutes after the restart to power a left field cross into the roof of the net.
To Birmingham’s credit they did not capitulate and battled toe to toe with Arsenal for the rest of the game. Allen was industrious in midfield, and Kirsty Linnett showed some silky touches to suggest the away side still had something up their sleeve to keep the game interesting. The Blues thought they had pulled one back when a Carney free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, but the Arsenal goalkeeper was somewhat fortunately judged to have been fouled in the build up. Unfortunately for Birmingham it wasn’t going to be their day
Kirsty Linnett controls under the close attentions of Casey Stoney.
Kirsty Linnett did get her rewards with a classy finish on 58 minutes to make it 3-1, and the increased tempo from the away side suggested there was still a contest to be had. However, the remainder of the second half saw little in craft from either side, and was instead marred by some overzealous tackles which left both teams appealing for sanctions from the referee. As the match went on tiredness and frustrations produced late challenges, but it was the lack of discipline from both teams in controlling player confrontations which was most surprising. By the full time whistle it was a small miracle the red mist on the field didn’t produce any cards of the same colour.
Alex Scott celebrates adding the third for Arsenal. (All images: Gavin Ellis/tgsphoto.co.uk)
Neither manager would have disputed that, overall, Arsenal were the dominant team on the day. The Gunners were more intelligent and dynamic, and showed the superior play in both defence and attack to suggest that a 3-1 win was a fair result. The game could have been so much different however, had Birmingham shown the same tenacity that they displayed in the second half from the first whistle. A case of too little, too late.
Arsenal march on to the final, where they await Notts County on Sunday, 1st November at Rotherham United, 3pm ko.
FINAL TICKET DETAILS:
This year’s Final will take place at the AESSEAL New York Stadium in Rotherham on Sunday 1 November (3pm kick-off). Tickets can be bought by clicking here or by telephone on 08444 10754. Prices are £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) is available at £10 while group booking and Charter Standard club discounts also apply.
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