This was a different Bromley side to the one our ladies faced in their previous cup encounters this season. And being a semi final everyone raises their game too.
And it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Paris Smith was called into action as early as the 4th minute, tipping a shot from Bethany Hull over the bar.
Then two minutes later it was 1-0 to the visitors.
From a corner the cross found Lucy Rix whose header gave Bromley the lead.
In the tenth minute a couple of neat short passes between Brionne Fowle and Shauni Griffiths found the latter with a sight on goal but the shot went wide.
18 mins and a stunning 25 yarder from Xayla-Rae Alberts was well saved by Charlotte Greenwood.
6 minutes later Greenwood was tested again. This time saving a volley from distance by Beth Powell.
Then unfortunately, no more than sixty seconds later an enforced substitution had to be made. And while it was great to see Amy Russ come into the fray, as we needed someone to hold the ball just behind the forward line, it was very sad to see Brionne limp off the field after picking up a knock earlier. I hope she'll be ok as the remaining fixture list says we can't afford to lose her.
Then the ideal reaction more or less followed immediately when Shauni unleashed a terrific shot going in off the far post for the equaliser.
By this time it was increasingly looking like Greenwood was going to be in for a busy afternoon when saving another good effort from Beth, which she just managed to hold on to.
But there was nothing the keeper could do in the 32th minute when Beth brilliantly lobbed her from the edge of the area to turn the match on it's head 2-1.
On the stroke of half-time Beth, who was having an excellent game, nearly increased the lead further with another good effort on goal before the whistle was blown for the break.
The second half continued to see our girls in control and within a minute of the restart Russ saw her volley from outside the box well held by Greenwood.
60 mins and Abbey Davies found Emily Vaughan whose thunderous shot beat the keeper but not the post.
Then suddenly, against the run of play in the 64th minute, former FC Shalke 04 player Leen Winner Ekwo managed to escape the attentions of Poppy Payne. The German finished well to equalise at 2-2.
66 mins and the referee decided to book our Vaughany.
What for? I'll tell you what for. Absolutely nothing in my opinion. If I thought I could have got away with taking a tin of spray paint to the QEII Bridge letting the whole county know EMILY VAUGHAN IS INNOCENT I would have gladly done it.
The referee made it quite clear he hadn't left his cards at home during the match. Infact it wasn't that kind of game even though the official was in danger of making it otherwise.
On 69 mins Greenwood got down well by her lefthand post to save a belter of a free kick by Shauni from outside the D.
In the 73rd Jade Charlton took over goalkeeping duties with Emily Woodhouse making way for Paris to move to the front line.
Greenwood soon find herself tearing off her line to smother the ball at Paris's feet a minute later.
In the 76th minute Shauni's corner found Xayla, whose flying header went just over the bar.
This was soon followed by an excellent save from a Paris half volley.
81 mins and Beth's hard drive into the box was blocked by the Bromley defence.
With minutes of normal time remaining, a one two between Ellie Dolby and Vaughany saw Ellie blaze over the far side of the bar from the angle. The last action of the game before penalties saw a shot from Bethany Hull comfortably saved by Jade.
The dreaded lottery of the penalty shootout then followed.
This was a story in itself. Creating a bit of trivia for a Darts quiz night maybe.
5 great conversions from our ladies. The first 4 coming from Abbey Davies, Shauni Griffiths, Georgie Davis and Amy Russ in that order.
Jade then made arguably the most crucial save you can make in a penalty shootout. The fifth one! It was a good save too from forward Melanie Epinosa, recently signed from Billericay, who was no doubt brought on with minutes of normal time remaining with penalties in mind. And with Bromley taking the first penalty they were done. It was now out of their hands.
Then upstepped our other goalkeeper of the afternoon as Paris Smith sent us through to the final and our little Dartford Ultras went bananas behind the goal.
Along with everyone else ofcourse.
The big story of the semi-final shootout was the goalkeepers. And not the opposition's either. No disrespect to Charlotte Greenwood though, as I wouldn't be surprised if she received Bromley's player of the match award for her overall performance.
Over the 90 minutes though, the player of the match for me goes to Beth Powell. No bias from me there TonyDart. Although Tony may have something to say about that. He knows why.
But no seriously, I thought Beth had a great game. She won most of her challenges on the park. Scored a brilliant goal to turn the game around before half-time and could have got a few more too.
And it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Paris Smith was called into action as early as the 4th minute, tipping a shot from Bethany Hull over the bar.
Then two minutes later it was 1-0 to the visitors.
From a corner the cross found Lucy Rix whose header gave Bromley the lead.
In the tenth minute a couple of neat short passes between Brionne Fowle and Shauni Griffiths found the latter with a sight on goal but the shot went wide.
18 mins and a stunning 25 yarder from Xayla-Rae Alberts was well saved by Charlotte Greenwood.
6 minutes later Greenwood was tested again. This time saving a volley from distance by Beth Powell.
Then unfortunately, no more than sixty seconds later an enforced substitution had to be made. And while it was great to see Amy Russ come into the fray, as we needed someone to hold the ball just behind the forward line, it was very sad to see Brionne limp off the field after picking up a knock earlier. I hope she'll be ok as the remaining fixture list says we can't afford to lose her.
Then the ideal reaction more or less followed immediately when Shauni unleashed a terrific shot going in off the far post for the equaliser.
By this time it was increasingly looking like Greenwood was going to be in for a busy afternoon when saving another good effort from Beth, which she just managed to hold on to.
But there was nothing the keeper could do in the 32th minute when Beth brilliantly lobbed her from the edge of the area to turn the match on it's head 2-1.
On the stroke of half-time Beth, who was having an excellent game, nearly increased the lead further with another good effort on goal before the whistle was blown for the break.
The second half continued to see our girls in control and within a minute of the restart Russ saw her volley from outside the box well held by Greenwood.
60 mins and Abbey Davies found Emily Vaughan whose thunderous shot beat the keeper but not the post.
Then suddenly, against the run of play in the 64th minute, former FC Shalke 04 player Leen Winner Ekwo managed to escape the attentions of Poppy Payne. The German finished well to equalise at 2-2.
66 mins and the referee decided to book our Vaughany.
What for? I'll tell you what for. Absolutely nothing in my opinion. If I thought I could have got away with taking a tin of spray paint to the QEII Bridge letting the whole county know EMILY VAUGHAN IS INNOCENT I would have gladly done it.
The referee made it quite clear he hadn't left his cards at home during the match. Infact it wasn't that kind of game even though the official was in danger of making it otherwise.
On 69 mins Greenwood got down well by her lefthand post to save a belter of a free kick by Shauni from outside the D.
In the 73rd Jade Charlton took over goalkeeping duties with Emily Woodhouse making way for Paris to move to the front line.
Greenwood soon find herself tearing off her line to smother the ball at Paris's feet a minute later.
In the 76th minute Shauni's corner found Xayla, whose flying header went just over the bar.
This was soon followed by an excellent save from a Paris half volley.
81 mins and Beth's hard drive into the box was blocked by the Bromley defence.
With minutes of normal time remaining, a one two between Ellie Dolby and Vaughany saw Ellie blaze over the far side of the bar from the angle. The last action of the game before penalties saw a shot from Bethany Hull comfortably saved by Jade.
The dreaded lottery of the penalty shootout then followed.
This was a story in itself. Creating a bit of trivia for a Darts quiz night maybe.
5 great conversions from our ladies. The first 4 coming from Abbey Davies, Shauni Griffiths, Georgie Davis and Amy Russ in that order.
Jade then made arguably the most crucial save you can make in a penalty shootout. The fifth one! It was a good save too from forward Melanie Epinosa, recently signed from Billericay, who was no doubt brought on with minutes of normal time remaining with penalties in mind. And with Bromley taking the first penalty they were done. It was now out of their hands.
Then upstepped our other goalkeeper of the afternoon as Paris Smith sent us through to the final and our little Dartford Ultras went bananas behind the goal.
Along with everyone else ofcourse.
The big story of the semi-final shootout was the goalkeepers. And not the opposition's either. No disrespect to Charlotte Greenwood though, as I wouldn't be surprised if she received Bromley's player of the match award for her overall performance.
Over the 90 minutes though, the player of the match for me goes to Beth Powell. No bias from me there TonyDart. Although Tony may have something to say about that. He knows why.
But no seriously, I thought Beth had a great game. She won most of her challenges on the park. Scored a brilliant goal to turn the game around before half-time and could have got a few more too.
Statistics: Posted by Ajaxman DFC — Mon Feb 17, 2025 4:17 pm