Women's football news
Written by: Joe
Lewes FC earned safe passage into the Women’s FA Cup second round with a penalty shootout victory over Dulwich Hamlet on an afternoon where both clubs came together to campaign for equal pay in the Football Association’s premier tournament.
Ella Hunkin’s fine save and Sydney Schreimairer’s winning penalty earned the Rooks victory after a 1-1 draw in regulation time at the Dripping Pan.
Dulwich had taken the lead through Phoebe Leitch’s incredible strike on 54 minutes, but an equally sensational Olivia Carpenter effort levelled the scores with six minutes remaining.
The teams were level in the shootout after six penalties each when Hunkin dived to her left to deny Dulwich’s Erin Corrigan.
And when Schreimairer swept home the winner, the Rooks bench swamped the pitch as the fans celebrated in the Philcox Stand.
Equal Play, Equal Pay
The match kicked off with a protest held by both sets of supporters, players and staff against the inequality still felt between the Men’s and Women’s FA Cup prize money.
Despite Lewes FC’s tireless campaigning for equality in the world’s oldest club competition, the winner’s of Sunday’s game was due only £6,000. While that’s not to the sniffed at, victors in this weekend’s Men’s FA Cup first round would earn £45,000.
The stadium united in the 21st second of the game to champion our cause – the 21st second reflecting the year when women’s football was outlawed in England, 1921. It was only reinstated 50 years later.
Lewes started the brighter of the two sides but chances were hard to come by until midway through the first half, when Sammy Quayle laid off to Mia Adaway in the box – her effort stinging Gwyn West’s hands.
West was also there to deny Carpenter on 27 minutes, while Adaway was inches away from a spilled Quayle shot that was eventually cleared by a Dulwich boot.
Dulwich produced a handful of chances themselves, with none of them threatening Hunkin’s goal as the teams went in level at the break.
Into the second half and Lewes were again on the front foot, with Lois Roche firing over after committed work from Lucy Connolly-Brame down the right.
But then came a moment of magic at the other end. The ball spilled out of a challenge and fell perfectly to Leitch, who hit it first time from 30 yards. It curled high above Hunkin and into the top scorer – an unstoppable strike.
Carpenter strikes back
Lewes dug in after the goal with Layla Proctor and Skye Bacon entering the fray – and it was Proctor who almost found a leveller on 72 minutes. Carpenter hit the byline to cross deep into the box, and the substitute directed her header back across goal, only for West to tip over.
It was a sign of things to come and Lewes finally got their reward on 81 minutes through Carpenter. The high press worked as the Rooks pinched the ball off the Dulwich back line, with Carpenter on hand to rocket in the equaliser from distance.
Muna Eze and Katie Gilligan came on as the clocked ticked down without any further action before the referee blew her whistle.
Both teams scored their first three spot kicks, before one each went over the bar. The scores then stayed level until 5-5, when Hunkin read Corrigan’s effort to shut out Dulwich’s seventh penalty.
Schreimairer confidently strode up to the ball, set herself, and sidefooted her winning penalty to the left of West to send the Rooks fans behind the goal wild.
Victory means Lewes progress to the Women’s FA Cup second round, where we will carry our cause for equal prize money with the men’s competition.
>> Read more: Equal Play, Equal Pay
Lewes XI: Hunkin, Brant, Schreimairer, Godfrey, Carpenter, Connolly-Brame, Harvey, Quayle, Roche, Adaway, Derhun
Subs: Moore, Glass-Oliver, Proctor, Eze, Curran, Gilligan, Bacon