Norwich City Women defeated fellow National League South East side, London Seaward, 3-1 on Sunday, October 22, in the final qualifying round of the FA Cup
Despite torrential rain over the weekend, the Canaries were welcomed by sunshine as they arrived at Oakside Stadium on Sunday morning. The hosts were in high spirits in the knowledge that they had stolen a point from their visit to The Nest earlier in the season, whilst Norwich looked to do one better.
Norwich got off to a flyer, with central midfielder Megan Todd looking to get her teammates involved from the get-go. In the third minute, she found Freya Symonds in space on the right who would force a fine save from Seaward goalkeeper Tia Ginn, before Lawrence fired just wide from the rebound.
Seaward remained compact, throwing a few jabs from distance to test the gloves of Sarah Quantrill, but would enjoy nothing clear-cut in the opening stages.
In the 15th minute, Norwich’s pressure would prevail through a well-worked set piece. Lauren Tomlinson found Shannon Shaw with a signature long throw-in, and after rattling the post with her initial header, Shaw would hammer home for the opener.
London Seaward responded with intent and would have drawn level no more than three minutes later had it not been for the sliding intervention from Alice Parker to clear off the line.
Rea Thomas-Araya proved a bright spark in the Seawards attack, creating a nice opportunity for herself in the 24th minute, but ultimately missing the target.
On the half-hour mark, Todd would double Norwich's lead out of almost nothing. The midfielder caught a bobbling ball in the area and looked to hook it into a dangerous area at the back post. Instead, she found herself reeling away in celebration as her effort snuck under the crossbar and into the far corner over a helpless Ginn to carry a 2-0 lead into the break.
The first 15 minutes of the second interview brought little to shout about, as Norwich looked to consolidate whilst Seaward chipped away to get back into the game.
London Seaward’s waves of pressure would eventually force an uncharacteristic error, as the ball struck a stray Norwich hand in the area. Thomas-Arayo would step up and calmly dispatch the spot kick to claw one back.
Just after the 70-minute mark, Seaward came close to drawing level, but could only find the side-netting after rounding Norwich goalkeeper Quantrill.
The game became nervy, and momentum began to shift with the home crowd playing every part they could. However, in the 76th minute, their rallying would be silenced as Symonds would wrap the game up for Norwich. The winger pick-pocketed her opponent high up the pitch, drove towards goal and coolly found the bottom-left corner to ice the game.
The hosts continued to push, forcing a number of good saves from Quantrill late on with the greatest scare coming seven minutes from time when they rattled the crossbar, but Norwich were able to shut up shop and close out the victory.
The victory sees the Canaries progress to the first round of the FA Cup, which will take place on November 12.
London Seaward: Ginn, Lee, Carabott, Burrows, Lanza, Smith, Cannon, Wales Bonner, Thomas-Arayo, Butler-Williams, Bracelli
Subs: Beazley, Dunning, Cockerill, Hughes, Hoteit, Campbell, Capparelli
Goals: Thomas-Arayo (64)
Norwich City Women: Quantrill, Parker, Todd, Larkins, Knights, Symonds (Stanley 78), Morran, Tomlinson (Daviss 55), Shaw (Hailes 55), Lawrence, Strauss
Subs not used: Cook, Flye, Harper, Pernet
Goals: Shaw (15), Todd (29), Symonds (76)
Venue: Oakside Stadium
Officials: Rob Davies (referee), Laurent Gerxhalija (assistant referee), Luke Burns (assistant referee)
HT: 0-2
FT: 1-3