Birmingham’s Hurtré piles pain on Chatham during 8-0 rout in Women’s FA Cup
Fifth round: Birmingham 8-0 Chatham
Hurtré 26 59 68, Sarri 53, Louis 65 89, Lee 70, Leidhammar 76
For just under an hour, Chatham kept themselves in this contest at 1-0 down. Given they are paid only their travel expenses, while their opponents are full-time professionals chasing promotion to the Women’s Super League, that was an admirable effort from the lowest-ranked side remaining in the Women’s FA Cup fifth round. They were powerless, though, to stop Birmingham charging into the quarter-finals with a hat-trick from Océane Hurtré.
Anybody hoping to see a rare upset in this competition was left disappointed as the hosts, second in WSL 2, FA Cup winners in 2012 and heavy favourites for this tie, opened the floodgates in the later stages. It was a game they would have had wrapped up before half-time had it not been for an inspired performance from the Chatham goalkeeper, Simone Eligon, who represents Trinidad and Tobago.
