The Coventry City Ladies battled hard but eventually succumb 2-0 to their Northern Premier league opponents as Aston Villa picked up their first County Cup in almost a decade. Kim Farrow and Natalie Gibson both struck in the final 20 minutes as the Sky Blues ran out of steam and saw their chances of picking up silverware this season evaporate.
Deprived of their first choice full backs, City deployed centre backs Ally Forbes and Lyndsey Bryenton in their place. Led by Captain Natasha Lynch the back four were called into action early and often as Danielle Selmes, Natalie Gibson and Kelly Clarke all went close with early efforts.
Playing uphill, and into a strong wind, the Sky Blues struggled to create any clear cut chances with Emily Hanson managing their only shot on target in a first half dominated by Villa. Adele Rogers, who delivered an otherwise superb performance in the City goal, set hearts fluttering in the 20 th minute when she misjudged a high ball and had to scramble back to her goal after allowing it to bounce over her head.
With Lynch in inspirational form and Abi Cockayne's pace and work rate frustrating Villa, the sides went in goalless at the half. The longer the match stayed scoreless Coventry 's confidence grew and they began to work their way into the game with chances falling to both Lynch and Cherelle Archibald.
Villa failed to convert two glorious chances either side of the hour mark as first Selmes fired directly at Rogers after out-duelling Cockayne, before Kelly Saggs' glancing header flew across the front of goal. The inevitable breakthrough came in the 73 rd minute as Coventry 's legs began to go having chased the game for so long. Clarke sprang the offside trap and blazed away down the left swinging in an inviting cross for Kim Farrow to head home via the inside of the right hand post.
Coventry 's first corner didn't come until the 77 th minute and they almost got immediately level. A loose clearance fell to Helen Dermody on the edge of the box, City's top scorer, with 19 goals on the season, struck through the crowded box but Nicola Kuch in the Villa goal got her body comfortably behind the shot. 5 minutes from time Jade Formaston had her name taken for a crunching challenge on Clarke near the edge of City's box.
Natalie Courtney fired in the resulting free kick; picking out Gibson who had found space in the centre of the 6 yard box and couldn't miss. The second goal killed off the game and a dogged Sky Blues side who now have to wait and see if league results go their way as they strive for promotion to join Aston Villa in Northern Premier. City enjoy a much needed break this weekend before finishing their season at home to Loughborough on Sunday the 26th of April.
First year Manager Paul Cudby was pragmatic in defeat "While it is always disappointing to lose, especially in a cup final on a big stage like that, we gave a terrific account of ourselves against the kind of opposition we aspire to play on a regular basis in the near future. Collectively we were very strong, defensively we were resolute against a lot of expected pressure and the togetherness shown was there for all to see".
"Just as we were playing very well and beginning to believe we were going to get a goal to help us go on and win, Aston Villa scored with a perfectly placed header. After that the game opened up and we pushed on, which obviously left us vulnerable to counter attacks, and then once they got the second five minutes from time that effectively sealed the result. Credit to Aston Villa, they're at that level for a reason, however we can take a huge amount of pride out of last night and hopefully our players want to use this to kick on and are hungry for future successes too".
Team: - Rogers, Bryenton (Ogle 78), Forbes, Henson (N. Miles 65), Lynch (c), Cockayne, Formaston, Saulter, Archibald (Tinto 72), Hanson, Dermody. Subs Not Used: - H. Miles, Morgan.
Goals: - None
Booked: - Formaston
Sent Off: - None
