Sports: Women's Football - Arsenal Ladies’ record-breaking FA Cup Final victory gives them their 34th major crown

Published: 26 May 2011
by STEVE BARNETT

JUBILANT Laura Harvey beamed “it means everything” after watching her Arsenal Ladies side beat Bristol Academy on Saturday to lift a record-breaking 11th FA Cup. 

First-half strikes from Scotland colleagues Kim Little and Julie Fleeting saw the Gunners reaffirm their dominance on women’s football with a 2-0 victory at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. 

Little weaved her way through the Bristol defence to put Arsenal in front after 15 minutes and Fleeting’s powerful header doubled the lead on the half-hour. Only a combination of Bristol keeper Siobhan Chamberlain and the woodwork kept the scoreline respectable as Arsenal dominated the game. 

Twelve months ago the north Londoners lost to Everton in the final, making victory this time around a must for manager Harvey: “It means everything. The last 12 months have been tough and, as a group, we said we wouldn’t forget the feeling of last year because we never wanted to have it again. We wanted to make sure we got the FA Cup and brought it home.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half and played some good football and could have easily scored more goals. 

“We took our foot off the pedal in the second half, but the way we played in the first half no domestic team would have lived with us.

“We’re a team that wants to play football and we’ve got a standard that we want to try to stick to. We were disappointed in the first half that we didn’t score more goals and I think that was the only thing lacking.”

Victory gives Harvey, 31, her second trophy since taking charge mid-way through last season and brings Arsenal a unique 34th major crown since their formation in 1987.