Penalty success against Charlton seals ‘intredible’ treble

Maya Vio said she “can’t even put into words how amazing it is to have this feeling again” after Tottenham Ladies’ dramatic penalty shoot-out triumph over Charlton Athletic to retain the National FA Women’s Premier League Cup.

The Lilywhites kept persevering despite rattling the post on numerous occasions – as well as had efforts denied off the line – as the final ended goalless and Vio says that’s simply down to the season of hard work and effort every player and coach is committed to giving each other.

She said: “It’s incredible – we knew as soon as it went to penalties with Toni (-Anne Wayne) in goal, all of us just said to each other ‘we’re confident she’s going to save them’ – and she did and it’s just amazing.

“It was deja-vu, we just kept battling battling and all the fitness we had, we used it to compete in this game and it showed. We had the ball so much more and it was just about converting our chances – and the work we’ve done all season with Anton (Blackwood) and Sarah (Budd) has just been incredible.

“Our game plan was evident all week that we’d just come out the races – and I knew we would. I knew once we had a week of training, we’d come out and play amazing. Everyone played incredible and it was just the cherry on top to win on penalties – obviously we would have liked to have won before, though!

“We knew there was going to be no other outcome than us winning the cup. Every time we hit the post we just kept playing our football – we kept believing, kept pushing and we kept each other motivated.

“There were times when people went down with cramps, but we kept looking at each other, which helped to push us that extra mile. That winning mentality is incredible, and to win this cup again and bring it back home to north London for the second year in a row, is credit to all the players and staff that have worked hard for the season we’re having.”

Wayne kept out two Charlton spot-kicks and came within a whisker of a third, whilst decisive penalties from Renee Hector, Sophie Mclean, Eartha Pond and Katie O’Leary ensured Spurs’ success.

And Vio said there were no doubts with the world-class stopper in-between the sticks, adding: “Toni’s incredible – I feel so comfortable with her in goal. I have no worries about if she’s going to do it, because she is going to.

“It makes everyone else feel so much more relaxed, because if we can’t get there to save the shot, we know she’s going to save it. Look at the penalties she stopped, we all said ‘now she’s going to boss it.”

Karen Hills’ side have completed a treble coup, adding the National Cup to the already captured Boux Avenue Cup and FA Women’s Premier League South title.

But Vio says the squad will not be getting carried away with their play-off for promotion to the Women’s Super League 2 on the horizon.

She added: “The season keeps giving but we’ve got more to go. We’ll celebrate, but we’ve not done our job yet. We just keep pushing, we’ve got a big game coming up on May 28 – and this is a warm-up for that.

“We’ll go back to training – focus on Watford (friendly) and West Ham – then get prepared for the biggest game in Spurs Ladies’ history. Showing our performance today and how we bounced back, in the way we usually play, I’m just so excited.”