Everton Ladies march on in FA Cup

The last time Everton Ladies played Bristol City they lost 2-1 but now the Toffees have evened the score with a 3-1 FA Cup comeback win over the Vixens.

In front of a celebrity- filled audience, including England Women’s manager Phil Neville, former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis, and Manchester United player Jesse Lingard, the Blues struggled in the first half, going down 1-0 early.

Defender Gabby George posted a photo of her and a huge Everton Ladies fan, her cousin Lingard -

By all accounts, there was a serious talk with manager Andy Spence at the halftime, which added a spark in a rejuvenated side for the second half. Midfielder Olivia Chance scored from what had appeared to be a cross but fooled the goalkeeper to make it 1-1.

Defender Georgia Brougham headed in the second Toffees goal off of a Chloe Kelly corner before Olivia Chance scored her second of the night off of a Chloe Kelly assist to make it 3-1.

New Arsenal signing Taylor Hinds made her Everton debut as a sub at the 89th minute.

Woman of the Match:

Olivia Chance celebrated her year-long anniversary of starting with Everton Ladies and scoring a brace in the FA Women’s Cup by... scoring a brace in the FA Women’s Cup!

Chance had this to say in her post-game interview:

“Chloe Kelly has played a good ball over from the right, Courtney [Sweetman-Kirk] has made a good run to create a little space and I just had to put it in the back of the net. I was a little bit nervous to see the keeper get a hand to it but thankfully it wasn’t enough.

“We had a bit of a rocket from Andy at half-time but I think we needed that. We weren’t on it in the first half and after having such a good game last week against Chelsea, it wasn’t good enough from all of us.

“So we needed that from Andy at the break and in the second half we came out and did the job.”

Next up:

Everton’s next FA Cup game will be on Sunday, February 18th against Lewes, a team making big waves in the third tier of women’s football, the Women’s Premier League South. Lewes is a fan-owned football club that pays its women’s team and men’s team equally, possibly the first football club in the world to do so. The front of their jerseys even say, “Equality FC”.

The investment is paying off, as the team has been winning big this season, racking up wins against bigger names like West Ham and Crystal Palace. Their aim is to get to the top tier of women’s football so Everton should not sleep on this ambitious team.

Everton Ladies play their next league game against Reading on Sunday, February 11th.

Starting Lineup:

Levell (GK), Turner (c), Brougham, George, Kelly, James, Chance, Sweetman-Kirk, Finnigan, Green, Bryson.