Football
PA Sport 9y

Chelsea Ladies claim FA Cup, first major title with 1-0 victory

Chelsea Ladies claimed the first major trophy in their history by defeating Notts County Ladies 1-0 in the SSE Women's FA Cup final at Wembley.

South Korean Ji So-Yun's goal eight minutes before half-time ensured Emma Hayes' side were victorious in front of a record attendance of 30,701 in north London.

It was the first time the showpiece event had been staged at the national stadium and Ji, whose winner in the semifinal against Manchester City took Chelsea to Wembley, made the key contribution after some good work from the excellent Eniola Aluko.

It provided a historic piece of silverware for the Blues' trophy cabinet and kept alive a possible Wembley double for Chelsea this weekend, with their male counterparts facing Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Neither side took control of the contest in the opening stages but the lively Aluko helped Chelsea find another gear on the half-hour mark.

The 28-year-old, whose brother Sone Aluko was a beaten finalist in the men's version with Hull in 2014, latched on to a through ball from the right and nipped past goalkeeper Carly Telford only to clip her effort into the side netting as the angle rapidly narrowed.

Aluko was emerging as Chelsea's biggest threat and she then forced Telford to fist away her swerving shot after robbing England teammate Laura Bassett and skipping in from the left.

The Lady Pies had no answer to Aluko's pace and Chelsea should have been 1-0 up when her centre was somehow hooked back across the face of goal and wide by Gemma Davison inside the six-yard box.

However, moments later Aluko was instrumental in giving the Blues the lead.

Once more she drove in from the left and shuffled a pass inside from the incoming Ji. Although the South Korean's touch appeared to have prevented a clear shot at Telford's goal, a fortunate ricochet into her path allowed Ji to prod in a 37th-minute opener.

Notts County's best spell came during back-to-back corners early in the second half, with Desiree Scott almost equalising on the hour.

She took a half-cleared corner down brilliantly on her instep before firing a sweetly-struck half volley which Gilly Flaherty's head deflected narrowly past a post.

From the resulting corner, Davison was needed on the back post to smash away a Leanne Crichton header that would have crept in the bottom corner.

Chelsea then had a glorious chance to wrap it up with 17 minutes remaining, yet an unmarked Flaherty stabbed over from close range after Aluko's clever flick found her six yards out.

But Ji's goal proved enough as the Blues held on for a richly-deserved triumph in front of a national television audience.

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