Becky Spencer on FA Cup victory: “I was lost for words”
Tue 16 April 2024, 13:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Becky Spencer was left ‘lost for words’ after the historic 2-1 victory over Leicester City on Sunday as we secured our spot in the final of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup final for the first time.
For much of our campaign in the competition so far this season, we had to come from behind to beat the Foxes, Jess Naz grabbing the equaliser in the closing stages of normal time to force the game into extra time and, then in the 118th minute, Martha Thomas headed home the winner.
The Jamaica international played a vital part in keeping our FA Cup journey alive in the quarter-final, saving two of Manchester City’s spot-kicks as we won 4-3 in the penalty shootout, and she admitted she was relieved to see the ball hit the back of the net in the last two minutes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“I was just relieved to be honest, I didn’t fancy another penalty shootout,” Becky joked when asked about her emotions following the winner. “But, yeah, I was just so relieved, it was a really well-taken goal, Luana [Bühler] won the first header and then the intelligence of Martha to direct her header over the goalkeeper was amazing. I was so happy, the substitutes made a big impact, we were in it together and as a team.”
“It’s an amazing feeling. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” she added. “We worked really hard to get there and it was a good game for people watching and we were happy to do it for each other and, most importantly, for the fans.”
“I have been here for a long time now and we have been working towards this point. We are really happy that we are on this journey together, I was actually lost for words that we got there.”
In the fourth round, we fought back from 2-0 down to beat Sheffield United and, then in the quarter-final against City, we grabbed an equaliser in injury time before winning on penalties, and Becky praised the mentality from the squad to fight until the end.
“We have been in those positions before in this competition, so it was nothing new to us,” she explained. “We got that characteristic now installed into us to fight until the end, we always looked like the team who was going to score next and, for me, I was so proud of everyone that dug deep and stuck to the plan.
“Obviously, in extra time, a lot of the players got tired and a bit leggy, I think cramp started to set in, but we stayed diligent with what we were doing, we defended well and our attack was brilliant.”
