MX23RW : Thursday, September 9 18:56:09| >> :120:8429:8429:
May 4, 2019 at 5.30pm UK at Academy Stadium
Attendance: 43,264
Man City WomenManchester City Women
3-0
W Ham WomenWest Ham United Women
Walsh (52'), Stanway (81'), Hemp (88')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Seven-time winner Gilly Flaherty previews Women's FA Cup final

Flaherty has won the FA Cup seven times already but she is desperate to help the Hammers end a fairy tale season with silverware.

Seven-time FA Cup winner Gilly Flaherty admits lifting the trophy with West Ham would trump the lot.

Flaherty, five times a winner with Arsenal and twice with Chelsea, joined a fledgling Hammers team which had only just turned professional last summer.

Manager Matt Beard had to hastily assemble together an entire squad, and the sum total of their ambition was to survive in their first season in the Women's Super League.

Yet somehow West Ham are not only comfortably mid-table, they also reached a first-ever Women's FA Cup final.

They will be huge underdogs when they take on mighty Manchester City on Saturday evening at Wembley in front of what will be a record crowd of around 50,000.

Despite her vast experience defender Flaherty, 27, will be captaining a side at Wembley for the first time – and she is dreaming of lifting the trophy.

"It would be the pinnacle of my career," she said.

"I have been fortunate enough to be a part of a few successful teams but to come here, there was some eyebrows raised when I left Chelsea to come to a club that was brand new, but I trusted Matt and his vision for the club.

"Us getting to the final in our first year proves it was the right decision."

City are unbeaten domestically this season and thrashed West Ham 7-1 earlier in the campaign, but Beard feels they will be the ones under pressure.

"We're delighted to be there and we're looking forward to the occasion," he said.

"Obviously it's a big game and a game we want to win. It's a big occasion but we've got a job to do.

"I said at the semi-final stage to get there would probably be like a fairy tale with everything we've been through, as a group, having six weeks to build a team and build this club.

"I think it puts more pressure on them. Someone sent me the odds and Manchester City were 5-1 on, and we're 11-1. But it's the cup final!

"If we can pull it off on Saturday it would be an unbelievable achievement."

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Tottenham HotspurSpurs33003039
2West Ham UnitedWest Ham321010557
3Manchester UnitedMan Utd32107257
4Chelsea32106157
5Liverpool32106157
6Everton32107347
7Manchester CityMan City320110196
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton32014316
9Leicester CityLeicester320145-16
10Brentford31203125
11Aston Villa31115414
12Watford310235-23
13Southampton302146-22
14Crystal Palace302125-32
15Leeds UnitedLeeds302148-42
16Burnley301225-31
17Newcastle UnitedNewcastle301248-41
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves300303-30
19Norwich CityNorwich3003110-90
20Arsenal300309-90
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ChinaChina966051207
Great BritainGreat Britain413845124
United StatesUnited States373631104
Olympics flagParalympic Athletes from Russia363349118
NetherlandsNetherlands25171759

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