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Arsenal 3 (Ohno 65', Ayisi 76', Scott 86') - Watford Ladies 0
Arsenal Starters: Byrne, Scott, Stoney, Hoogendijk, Williamson, Weir, Bailey, Kinga, Ohno, Carter, Smith
Subs Used: Ayisi for Smith 17', Yankey for Weir 58', Murray for Carter 77'
Unused Subs: Chamberlain, Mitchell, Yankey, Fahey
So begins Arsenal Ladies defense of the Continental Cup. After a bit of a dull first half, the Gunners were able to break through and grab themselves three lovely goals. While the scoreline should have been more, finishing continues to be an issue, all signs point to Chelsea being the only real challenge for Arsenal during the group stage of this competition.
As for this game, its worth noting that Ayisi continues to be dynamite off the bench. Considering this team can be prone to injury issues, its lovely to see the spark she can bring, and I'm incredibly confident she could step into a starting role and perform quite well. Now for the less exciting note from this game. Kelly Smith left the game in just the 17th minute after having apparently picked up a bit of a knock. Nothing's been said about how serious this is, but let us hope this was purely precautionary as, let's be honest, the Gunners probably didn't need her today. Smith almost literally just got back from injury.
At this point, no one else in group 1, which is of course Arsenal's group, will play until later tonight so Arsenal is sitting pretty atop the board. Just a friendly reminder that Arsenal still has to play the rest of the team in their group, with the top two finishers advancing to the knockout rounds. The rest of those teams include: Chelsea Ladies, London Bees, Millwall Lionesses, Reading FC Women, and obviously Watford Ladies.
Up next for the Arsenal Ladies is a rematch with Birmingham City, but this time around its for the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. That's this Sunday, May 4th. We shall of course have a recap of what is hopefully a victory for the Gunners.