Bethany England on Women's FA Cup comeback: “We manage to stay calm”
Mon 15 January 2024, 13:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Bethany England was pleased with how the team fought back to complete a stunning comeback and book our place in the next round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup at the expense of Sheffield United.
After finding ourselves two goals down, with Sophie Haywood putting the Blades ahead before Jess Sigsworth doubling their lead, it was our captain that started the turnaround with her first goal of the 2023/24 campaign.
A clever pass from Angharad James found Bethany inside the box and she calmly finished to pull a goal back on 69 minutes before Jess Naz was brought down inside the box by Tara Bourne, with Bethany converting from the spot to bring the scores level as the game entered the final 10 minutes of normal time.
That set up a grandstand finish as Rosella Ayane netted the winner deep in added time, sparking jubilant celebrations, and Bethany was delighted to get back on the scoresheet and praised the Blades' performance.
I’m disappointed with the start of the game, but I thought the way we finished was really good.
"I’m disappointed with the start of the game, but I thought the way we finished was really good and we are into the next round,” Bethany said in her post-match interview with SPURSPLAY.
“I’m happy to get on the scoresheet, but we needed it. We were behind by two goals and gave ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb, and credit to Sheffield United, I thought they came out brilliantly today.
“They were tenacious, aggressive and forcing errors from us, but we manage to stay cool, calm and play till the very last whistle, and thankfully Rosella put it in the net with the last kick.”
It needed a moment of quality to secure the victory and that certainly happened in the final seconds of added time, starting with a lovely diagonal ball from Olga Ahtinen – her first appearance since November after she returned from injury - Rosella took it down before a composed finish over Fran Stenson, and Bethany was delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net, especially with another 30 minutes on the horizon.
“I was over the moon when she scored because, I won’t lie, I don’t know if my calves would have lasted another 30 minutes,” Bethany smiled.
“I’m so happy for her, she had a similar chance about 10 or 15 minutes before that, and to stay cool and calm in that moment and put it away was fantastic. The goalkeeper nearly made a good save, but it went into the back of the net and I’m very thankful to Rosella for that going in.”
