Women’s Scottish Cup Final 2022 – Celtic FC Women 3 Glasgow City 2 (AET)
What a team, what a mentality and what an incredible achievement. Celtic FC Women lifted their first ever Scottish Cup at Tynecastle this afternoon, in front of 4345 supporters, and in doing so completed a domestic Cup double by defeating Glasgow City with an extra time goal from supersub Izzy Atkinson, and after having to play out 80 minutes of an incredible final with ten players after the sending off of Jodie Bartle in somewhat controversial circumstances.
The first half was a breathless affair, after an initial fifteen minutes of the two sides feeling each other out and settling into their surroundings. City looked comfortable in a slow build up through the thirds, however from open play were little threat. Set plays however were another matter.
Celtic were simply superb on the counter attack, with Clarissa Larisey’s pace on the left-hand side causing all sorts of problems and ably assisted by Jacynta and Charlie Wellings also causing distress to the City attack on the break.
After 18 minutes Celtic broke the deadlock as Jacynta did superbly to release Clarissa Larisey on the left wing who then broke well, committed the City defence towards her, before returning the ball to Jacynta . The resultant cross to the back post picked out Mengyu Shen superbly, and the Chinese internationals first touch allowed for a second which ended up into the top corner via the woodwork, as a ferocious finish left Alexander without a chance of keeping the ball out the net.
Celtic by this stage looked to have more control of the game, Bartle tucking in to take care of City’s most dangerous attacker Priscila Chinchilla appeared to be working well and Celtic were closing City down well, meanwhile in transition they were electric.
Yet within five minutes of opening the scoring Celtic were pegged back, as a free kick left Celtic’s zonal defending exposed. With the ball delivered into the six-yard box, Celtic keeper Johnstone remained on her line and no Celtic defender committed to challenge, with the ball eventually deflecting past Johnstone from the unfortunate Caitlin Hayes, after travelling far too easily across the area. It was disappointing to lose such a poor goal from a set piece after defending so well from open play, yet Celtic responded well, and again took the lead.
Jacynta again found Larisey with a well weighted ball, the Canadian managed to cut the ball back for Wellings at the edge of the box, but Larisey’s movement had been too quick for her marker Clark, who committed to the challenge scythed Larisey down and the referee, having paused to see if there was an advantage to be had for Celtic, eventually pointed to the spot. And up stepped Charlie Wellings to send Lee Alexander the wrong way and restore Celtic’s one goal advantage.
But the game was about to be turned on its head as City were awarded a penalty of their own in the 40th minute.
Jodie Bartle was judged to have brought Chinchilla down in the box, but if there was contact it was minimal and certainly not enough to make Chinchilla hit the floor in such dramatic fashion. The penalty award seemed harsh but not as much as as the red card which followed, and the referee with time to reflect may well think the same with the benefit of video replays after the game. City’s Davidson then sent Rachael Johnstone the wrong way with the resultant penalty and Celtic were now back to level pegging and a player down at half-time.
Some teams may have wilted under such pressure, and some manager’s may have taken a defensive approach. Instead, Celtic grew stronger and Fran Alonso braver as Celtic continued to take the game to their opponents in the second half, and if you didn’t know who had ten players in the second 45 minutes you could easily have assumed it was Glasgow City, as the Hoops produced an incredible performance despite City having the numerical advantage.
Celtic created chance after chance in the second half with a Harkes corner kick finding Cheyenne Shorts who headed just over the bar, before Jacynta, Harkes and Wellings linked well only for Wellings to snatch at the chance and the ball was dragged wide.
Liv Chance then tried to find a way to goal, but the New Zealander’s shot from a Cheyenne Shorts pass went inches wide of Alexander’s post, before a curling effort from Chinchilla drifted just off target for City and they followed up with a drive from Davidson that Rachael Johnstone did brilliantly to save.
Celtic then had a glorious opportunity to win the match when a brilliantly weighted pass from Chance saw Wellings beat Alexander to the through ball, however the covering Claire Short did enough to put the Celtic striker off, as it looked like a lofted finish into an empty net was on the cards.
And still Celtic drove on. Chloe Craig came on for Jacynta, but this wasn’t a sign of Celtic moving to a defensive tactical approach, instead Larisey moved centrally alongside Wellings, and ten players or not Celtic were now going to play with two strikers. Brave stuff from Fran Alonso.
Clarissa Larisey was eventually replaced by Izzy Atkinson, a substitution that would change the course of the game, meanwhile Larisey slumped to the floor on the touchline having run herself into the ground and suffering from cramp following her best game in a Celtic shirt.
With two minutes left another controversial decision. This time alexander rushed out her area as Wellings broke down Celtic’s right, she then appeared to win the ball first but there also seemed a suspicion the ‘keeper used her hand outside the area, but neither linesman or referee wished to entertain the idea it may have been a free kick.
In the final moments of the game Kelly Clark made a crucial block in the area to stop City scoring, before at the other end City’s Short made a perfectly timed tackle to deny Wellings, who would have been clear through on goal had it not been for the timely intervention,
Then, after four minutes of stoppage time, Atkinson looked like she was going to be the match winner after a brilliant run down the left side saw Atkinson end up one on one with Alexander, but yet again Alexander saved superbly. Atkinson may have been denied in normal time but extra time would be a different matter.
Both teams shared a chance apiece in the first half of extra time with Lauder driving wide for City and Liv Chance putting the ball in the City net, only for the game to be stopped for an apparent head knock in the build-up. Yet Walsh pulled the wool over the referee’s eyes with that one as the player fell awkwardly, but it wasn’t a head injury and play should really have gone on and the goal should have stood.
As the game moved into the second period of extra time both teams were struggling with cramp but Celtic and their ten players still created chances, and after a Harkes corner saw Craig head wide, the winning goal arrived. And it was a beauty.
Sarah Harkes sent the perfectly weighted through ball, Izzy Atkinson took the ideal first touch and having set herself up superbly the Celtic supersub showed all the composure in the world to send a low left footed finish through the legs of lee Alexander to win the Scottish Cup and an incredible domestic double for Celtic.
This was a superb game. Both sides played their part, and credit must go to City for their efforts, but Celtic were simply immense. Having played for 80 minutes with ten players they continued to create chance after chance and defended brilliantly at the other end.
Izzy Atkinson will be remembered as the match winner but to a player Celtic simply refused to lie down, and went punch for punch with an opponent who had the advantage of playing with a full complement of players through the entirety of the second half and the course of extra time.
Charlie Wellings picked up the player of the match award and for her incredible performance and tireless effort it was much deserved, but both Larisey and Jacynta could have reasonably laid a claim to the award.
Not that personal accolades mean anything today. Instead, this was a team performance of the highest order and an incredible tactical masterclass from Alonso and his backroom staff, as Celtic remained on the front foot throughout this game. And despite chances going abegging and brave defending at the back, including two crucial saves from Rachael Johnstone, Izzy Atkinson brilliant winning goal was just reward for Celtic’s herculean efforts in this classic Scottish Cup Final.
Celtic now finish the season as Scottish Cup winners to add to the League Cup won in December, and this impressive chapter in Celtic’s history will long be remembered as the greatest moment in the history of Celtic FC Women.
There will be sore bodies tomorrow, that’s for sure, and probably a few sore heads once this achievement is celebrated tonight. But after this incredible Scottish Cup Final win, Fran Alonso, his coaching staff and this group of players could be forgiven for celebrating all summer long.
Niall J
Shouldn’t that be Scottish Cup Champions?