On Sunday 21st May 2006 the AFC Bournemouth Ladies successfully completed their quest for ‘the double’ by beating Slough Ladies 3-1 in the League Cup Final. Despite the torrential rain and waterlogged middle third of the pitch, AFC Bournemouth Ladies worked hard to find space out wide to play passing ‘bling’ football and take the game to their opponents.
League Top Scorer Lindsey Roe broke the deadlock on 25 minutes with a superb chip over the Slough goalkeeper. Slough’s response was to push players forward in an attempt to equalise, but Bournemouth?s well organised defence and brilliant goalkeeper, Rachel Simkin, kept any threat at bay.
Slough’s equaliser came from a penalty after the referee deemed a player was pushed in the area during a corner. However it was Bournemouth?s immediate response that stole the headline; when Kerry Fisher coolly slotted home a well-deserved goal just as the half-time whistle was blown.
Slough’s 2nd half tactics were to push more players forward in the search for an equaliser, but it was Bournemouth who scored again when a superbly taken free kick from Captain Janie Morgan bounced off the far post and was fired in by Kerry Fisher.
At 3-1 Slough refused to give up and continued to drive forward in search of goals, but all 11 Bournemouth Players dug deep to keep Slough at bay despite the increasingly bad weather conditions.
A huge roar from the travelling Bournemouth supporters echoed around the stadium as the final whistle blew; giving the AFC Bournemouth Ladies a well deserved Cup Final win.
With an emphatic 9-0 win over Thatcham Town the week before, AFC Bournemouth Ladies have completed the League & Cup double and have gained promotion into the South-West Combination where they will face teams like QPR, Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle and Newquay.
A huge thank you goes to all the Player’s sponsors and in particular shirt sponsors, Fitness First, who have assisted AFC Bournemouth Ladies in achieving their 3rd promotion in 4 years.
AFC Bournemouth Ladies: Simkin, Prince, Stanford, Heydon, Barnes, Morgan, Weeks, Goater, Keehan, Roe & Fisher. Subs: Carter, Neil, Rowswell, Lanahan, Elliott.
