FA Cup hero Martha: “Everyone is just absolutely smiling from ear to ear!”
Sun 14 April 2024, 15:40|
Tottenham Hotspur
Martha Thomas etched her name into Club history once again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and beamed: “This group of girls is so special… I’m just over the moon!”
The Scotland international forward scored the goal that handed us our first-ever WSL win over Arsenal in N17 back in December, but her header deep into extra time on Sunday proved even more significant, as it secured a 2-1 victory over Leicester City and sent us marching into our first-ever Women’s FA Cup Final.
Jess Naz had earlier come to the rescue with an 83rd-minute equaliser to send the semi-final into extra time, after Leicester had led for much of the game through Jutta Rantala.
Speaking to The Review Show as she stepped off the pitch, Martha couldn’t hide her delight.
“I’m just over the moon for the team – you can see what it means to everybody and we’re just so chuffed to be going to an FA Cup Final,” she said.
“You can see the celebrations, everyone is just absolutely smiling from ear to ear, from staff to players to all the fans... it means the world.
“This group of girls is so special and to be a part of the team and watch this team achieve history, no words can describe it. So many fans came out to support us today and hopefully there’ll be even more at Wembley.”
Martha came off the bench in the second half as we trailed 1-0, having recovered from a hamstring injury. Naturally, she was pleased to make such an important impact with what was her 10th goal of the season.
“I felt like I should have scored at the end of the second half so when that ball came up I was like ‘get in front of that defender, head it in and hope for the best’ so yes, I'm chuffed,” she smiled.
“We knew that we were dangerous and that we were hurting them and we wanted to continue threatening in behind. Obviously we were really good on the counter today but we wanted to be a bit better in possession and try and build a bit more, even in their half so it didn’t become too transitional. When I came on, it was just to try and link up in the 10 role, press in the nine role as well, so a couple of different roles but at the end it just felt like it didn’t matter who was playing where, we just got over the line.
“There were big moments in the game, they had a dangerous free-kick in the first half, if that bounces off the crossbar and goes over the line it’s a different game, but we created some good chances at the beginning so it was a game of chances for both teams but we got over the line and it doesn't matter how you win, in the end we won and that’s the most important thing.”
