Lynch the hero as Tottenham Hotspur Ladies make it to second cup final

Goalkeeper Megen Lynch says she was just happy she could play her part – after her penalty shoot-out heroics sent Tottenham Hotspur Ladies to the second Capital Women’s Cup final in two seasons.

The Lilywhites fell behind early at Crystal Palace – but Renee Hector’s header sent the tie to penalties where Lynch kept out four of the Eagles’ nine spot-kicks.

Jenna Schillaci slotted home the winning kick to send Spurs through to their second final of this campaign.

“To be able to pull off four, and get my hands to another four, it’s fantastic,” said Lynch. “I’d have never thought of it in my wildest dreams to be honest.

“I’m just glad that I could pull through for the team really. Karen [Hills, manager] put faith in me, and I’m just happy I could repay it.

“As a goalkeeper you read the player as they run up, the way they’re standing, their body language, where they look, if they don’t look. Personally for me, it was just assessing their body, and try to psyche them out; talk to them, walk across my line, make the goal look big and small.”

Tottenham had attempts from Wendy Martin and Sophie Mclean ruled out in 90 minutes full of trials and tribulations, but the stopper said the belief was always remaining throughout the team.

She added: “We showed unbelievable character, especially because we felt everything was going against us.

“To dig deep and not get frustrated, to carry on like we did, score and then win on penalties, it was fantastic. We’re still undefeated and that’s one of our main objectives.

Lynch often struggles to get into the squad due to the form of Toni-Anne Wayne but admitted the fabled goalkeeper’s union is very much alive and well at the club.

She said: “Toni’s been playing fantastic, she’s pulled off some really important saves at important times in games, so to be able to come in and still do that is fantastic.

“I do look up to her, she’s coached me, she’s been there done that, been around, it’s brilliant. To hear ‘well done Meg’, it’s great.

“To be up to 25 games and still undefeated, in two cup finals already, Arsenal literally around the corner, another cup semi-final next week, it’s just a surreal sort of dream at the minute that’s happening with the club.

“We have an end target and I’d say we’re about half the way there. There’s still a lot of work to do and we’re ready to drive on. We just need to keep our heads, because we are a young team, but we do have that experience.

“So I’m hoping we can stay headstrong and actually go on to win the cup finals.”

Next week’s cup exploits sees the side take on fellow high-flyers Cardiff City in the FA Women’s Premier League Cup and Lynch says the squad are determined to make it a treble of finals.

She said: “It’s going to be a great game – they’re obviously up there with us at the top of the league. It’s going to be a battle of wits, because Cardiff always manage to technically play fantastic and tactically get it right.

“We’ll be up for it, it’s another semi-final, and we want to get to another final.”