Striker Kelly Smith breathed a sigh of relief as Arsenal edged past Notts County in the SSE Women’s FA Cup quarter finals, courtesy of a penalty shoot-out.
Smith, making her first start in 10 months, opened the scoring for Arsenal but Notts hit back immediately through Sophie Bradley-Auckland before Aivi Luik put them ahead.
Visiting striker Ellen White was sent off and Arsenal took advantage when Natalia Pablos Sanchon equalised with five minutes to play.
Arsenal 2-2 Notts County
Arsenal won 4-3 on penalties
SSE Women's FA Cup
Quarter Final
Sunday 3 April
Boreham Wood FC
by Ross Martinovic
And, after a stalemate in extra-time, Katie McCabe struck the winning penalty as Arsenal triumphed 4-3.
Smith said: “Credit to Notts County – they came here, battled really hard and gave us a very, very difficult game. We knew what we were up against.
“We thought we could just settle it for five minutes, but they popped up a couple of minutes after I scored so they were back in the game again. They’re always tough to play against and seem to be our bogey team, but we’re really pleased.
“We weren’t good enough to score against 10 players so we’re disappointed on that part, but really pleased that we battled hard to the end. The main thing is that we’re in the semi-final.
“I’m delighted to be back on the pitch and to start. I’ve worked really hard in the off-season to get myself back. I’m delighted to have scored also – I wasn’t expecting that if I’m honest.”
Magpies goalkeeper Carly Telford said the all-action game was a good spectacle for the neutral and was pleased with the performance as she hopes to bounce back from the defeat at the first opportunity.
She said: “It had everything. There were aggressive tackles going in, diving, there were some tantrums, a sending off, penalties, extra time. If you were watching that, you were thoroughly entertained I’d hope.
“When you’ve worked for 120 minutes and ran your little legs off, I said I wouldn’t have been surprised if all of them had missed.
“We’ve got to dust ourselves down. It was a great performance.
“When you look at the players they’re bringing on, the internationals they’ve got stacked up on the bench, we’ve got to take a lot of heart from that.
“We’ve got to build on it and it might have been different if we’d had 11 on the pitch, but we’ll never know.”
This year’s Final takes place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 14 May and thanks to The FA's partnership with SSE, all children will be able to attend for free.
Adult tickets are priced £15 and group bookings and charter standard discounts are also available.
Tickets for The Final are on sale now via TheFA.com/Tickets or by calling 0844 826 2010.
Arsenal (4-4-2): Sari van Veenendaal; Alex Scott, Leah Williamson, Casey Stoney, Emma Mitchell; Dominique Janssen, Vicky Losada, Fara Williams, Jordan Nobbs; Asisat Oshoala, Kelly Smith.
Substitutes: Dan Carter for Losada 45, Natalia Pablos Sanchon for Janssen 68, Katie McCabe for Mitchell 77.
Substitutes not used: Emma Byrne, Marta Corredera.
Goals: Kelly Smith 21, Natalia Pablos Sanchon 81.
Bookings: Vicky Losada, Kelly Smith.
Notts County (4-5-1): Carly Telford; Dani Buet, Sophie Bradley-Auckland, Amy Turner, Maja Krantz; Jess Clarke, Leanne Crichton, Angharad James, Aivi Luik, Rachel Williams; Ellen White.
Substitutes: Aileen Whelan for James, Laura-Jayne O’Neill for Bradley-Auckland, Chelsea Weston for O’Neill.
Substitutes not used: Megan Walsh, Alice Hassell.
Goals: Sophie Bradley-Auckland 23, Aivi Luik 32
Bookings: Ellen White, Dani Buet, Leanne Crichton.
Red cards: Ellen White.
Referee: Paul Kelly
Attendance: 709
