BEST FA CUP FAIRYTALES
Kidderminster Harriers are the lowest
-ranked side to be guaranteed a place
in the third round when the National
League North side beat Halifax of the
National League 2-0 yesterday.
First-half goals from Amari
Morgan-Smith and Ashley
Hemmings settled the tie. “We’re
delighted to be in the third round, if
we can get a big hitter it helps the
club and the finances in the long run,”
the Harriers assistant manager Jimmy
O’Connor said. “That was as pleasing
as it can get, we looked hungry and
played from intent from minute one.”
Yeovil Town, mid-table in the
from Kirby’s opener and their defence
was porous without the influential
Leah Williamson, who is ruled out
until the new year with a hamstring
injury and could only watch on from
the stands.
The injury to Williamson last
month had caused friction between
Hayes and Jonas Eidevall, the Arsenal
manager, after Hayes had said that
“coaches injure players”. It was a sign
of the growing rivalry between these
clubs, although Hayes had tried to
downplay it beforehand with a
comment that might also have served
as an incentive for Arsenal.
“Playing against Arsenal as a
Chelsea manager has always been a
great game for us but it has never
been a rival game, Manchester City
has always been that,” she said.
Hayes’s statement could have
backfired badly but Chelsea have
been there and done that in
showpiece finals over the past nine
years under their esteemed manager.
In front of more than 40,000 fans atWembley they looked in control from
the start.
Arsenal’s promising new era under
Eidevall is still taking shape, with the
Swede only having taken over in
June, but for now Chelsea very much
remain the dominant side in the
domestic game. The delayed 2020-21
final yesterday meant that they had to
wait to complete their quadruple but
now have the FA Cup, WSL,
Community Shield and Continental
Cup trophies in their trophy cabinet.
“Are we the most dominant team in
England right now? Yes, of course,”
Hayes said. “The quadruple suggests
that. I thought we were like a
machine today.”
Almost halfway through the 2021-
22 season and the WSL title already
looks to be London-bound, Arsenal
topping the division with 22 points,
one point ahead of Chelsea. The slim
lead held by the north London club is
largely down to their 3-2 victory over
Chelsea on the opening weekend, but
if that game sprang something of asurprise, Chelsea showed yesterday
that they had learnt their lesson.
Chelsea’s opener was a touch lucky
— Kerr’s pass ricocheted off Arsenal’s
Frida Maanum sweetly into the path
of Kirby, who kept her calm to dink
into the corner of the net.
In the league match in September
Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead
had left Chelsea flummoxed, but
despite Hayes deploying natural
attackers Erin Cuthbert and Guro
Reiten as wing backs, Arsenal’s
forwards barely touched the ball at
Wembley. In fact they failed to have a
single shot on target.
“Everybody is very disappointed,
we can play so much better than we
did today,” Eidevall said. “It was not
effort that was at fault... the quality
for us as a team was not there today.”
Chelsea had no such problems and
extended their lead when Kerr
collected Kirby’s pass to produce a
low finish, before Kerr’s 77th-minute
chip that had Hayes turning to the
crowd and punching the air in delight.FA Cup final
MOLLY
HUDSON
Hayes’s deadly duo torment Arsenal
0
RATINGS
Arsenal (4-3-3) M Zinsberger 8 — N Maritz 6,
L Wubben-Moy 5 (S Boye 87min), J Beattie 5
(C Foord 70, 6), S Catley 6 — L Walti 5 (M Iwabuchi
61, 7), K Little 6, F Maanum 6 (N Parris 80) — B Mead
6, V Miedema 6, K McCabe 6.
Subs not used L Williams, A Patten, J Nobbs,
V Schnaderbeck, T Goldie. Booked Mead, Parris,
McCabe.
Chelsea (3-4-3) A-K Berger 8 — M Bright 8, J Carter 8,
M Eriksson 8 — E Cuthbert 8, S Ingle 7, M Leupolz 7
(Ji So-yun 86), G Reiten 8 (D Spence 87) — J Fleming
7, S Kerr 9 (B England 86), F Kirby 9 (P Harder 74).
Subs not used Z Musovic, A Nouwen, N Charles,
J Andersson, J Fox. Booked Cuthbert.
Referee H Conley.
Attendance 40,942.Arsenal Chelsea
3
Kirby 3
Kerr 57, 77ALEX PANTLING/GETTY IMAGESChelsea
defenders
Magdalena
Eriksson and
Millie Bright
lift the FA CupKidderminster want ‘big hitter’ as reward for making third round
National League, confirmed their
place in the third round when Charlie
Wakefield struck early in the second
half to knock out the League Two
strugglers Stevenage on Saturday.
Chesterfield, the National League
leaders, also overcame League Two
opposition, winning 2-0 away to
Salford City yesterday with goals from
Liam Mandeville and Jim Kellerman.
Jack Diamond’s 95th-minute
winning goal carried Harrogate Town
through to the third round proper for
the first time in their history after a
2-1 win against Portsmouth.OTHER SHOCK RESULTS
The Hartlepool United manager
Graeme Lee enjoyed an FA Cup
debut to remember as his strugglingLeague Two team won 1-0 away to
Lincoln City of League One, thanks
to Lewis Fiorini’s own goal. Lee, who
left Middlesbrough Under-23 to take
over as Dave Challinor’s successor on
Wednesday, said: “It’s been like a
dream. I’ll enjoy tonight.”
Barrow can momentarily forget
their League Two relegation concerns
and prepare to enter the draw for the
third round after a goalless draw away
to Ipswich Town. It was the first
competitive meeting between the
clubs and a result that cost the
Ipswich manager Paul Cook his job
with the club announcing his
departure after the game.PLAYER OF THE ROUND
Dennis Politic came off the bench tomake a stunning impact for Port Vale,
scoring both their goals within the
space of three minutes late in the
second half in their 2-1 win over
Burton Albion.OTHER KEY RESULTS
With two non-League clubs exiting
the competition on Friday, in
Gateshead and Stockport County,
seventh-tier Buxton lost narrowly, 1-0
to Morecambe. Leyton Orient had the
biggest victory of the weekend, 4-0
over Tranmere Rovers.WHEN IS THE DRAW FOR THE
THIRD ROUND?
At 7pm tonight as part of the televised
coverage of the Boreham Wood v St
Albans City tie.IAN WHITTELL
Morgan-Smith scored Harriers’ openerworld and displayed that when it
mattered most,” Hayes said. “She’s
courageous, she’s full of confidence,
she can do that after getting off a
plane from Sydney on Thursday.
“That was Fran’s best game in a
Chelsea shirt, I thought she ran the
show, she got on the ball in dangerous
situations, she threaded Sam in on
numerous occasions, but also was
a real threat herself, a real
handful. She’s a
national treasure,”
Hayes said.
The pair could
have put the
game out of
reach in the first
half were it not for
a string of saves from
Zinsberger, and the
aid of the woodwork,
but eventually
Chelsea’s
dominance told.
Arsenal simply
did not recoverHayes acknowledged that her side
are the most dominant in England
This Women’s FA Cup final at
Wembley marked 100 years since the
governing body had deemed “that the
game of football is quite unsuitable
for females”. Sam Kerr’s delicately
chipped finish over Manuela
Zinsberger to seal Chelsea’s 3-0
victory over Arsenal made a mockery
of that statement.
The combination of Kerr and Fran
Kirby, whom Chelsea manager Emma
Hayes once compared to the deadly
Arsenal duo of Thierry Henry and
Dennis Bergkamp, were simply
unplayable. Kirby scored in the third
minute, before setting up Kerr for her
first before the Australia forward
scored her stunning second and
Chelsea’s third.
It was made all the more
impressive by the fact Kerr
played two games for
Australia down under
during the international
break, only returning to
England on Thursday.
“Many wondered how
she [Kerr] would handle
the English game, as far
as I’m concerned she’s
the best striker in the
the times | Monday December 6 2021 1GG 13
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