Lincoln City Women opened the door to a possible tie against the game’s big guns with a fine win against Northampton Town yesterday.
The Imps are hunting promotion this season, but after defeating Leafield 3-2 in the last round, they also earned a chance at the fourth round. Standing in their way were Northampton Town, who are a league below. That did put the Imps as favourites, but in a tense game, the visitors made them work for the victory.
A third-minute Faye Nobleown goal looked to set the standard for the Imps, who are second in the Midland League Division One. After failing to capitalise on their advantage, the visitors edged back into the game, and only a super save from Lana Timson kept the slender advantage in place. She was helpless just before half time as the Cobblers levelled through Abbie Brewin.
In an exciting, end-to-end encounter both sides could have taken the lead, but it was the Cobblers who looked to be progressing with a 72nd-minute goal from Alex Dicks. As the game entered the dying embers, Jess Rousseau twisted in the box and slotted home, breaking the visitors strong resistance. That meant another 30 minutes which nobody could deny the two teams deserved.
Almost immediately after the restart, City took the lead for the second time. A Leah Hardy corner touched the top of the crossbar, and it dropped to Rousseau who headed into the net. The momentum was with the home team now, with Hardy having two decent chances to extend the advantage. It meant nervy moments for the Imps, although they rarely looked like conceding after taking the lead.
Into the second period, it was Rousseau again on target, striding through to push the final nail into the brave visitors FA Cup coffin. 4-2but it still wasn’t over. Timson made a couple more saves, whilst Rousseau was denied a fourth by a stunning stop at the other end.
💬 “we battled hard as a team to make sure we were winning all of our tackles”
Hear what Betsy Thomas thought of today’s triumphant win in the @VitalityWFACup 👇🏻
(Proudly sponsored by Dry Ice UK) pic.twitter.com/iWKKtIh7of
— Lincoln City Women 🇺🇦 (@Lincoln_Women) December 12, 2021
Will it be Chelsea or Man City? Everyone connected with the club certainly hopes so, as it would mean a big crowd, especially if it were at Moorlands here in Lincoln. You can listen to the draw live on Talk Sport at 7 pm this evening.