- Albion 1, Charlton Athletic 0
Albion made history as they reached the semi-finals of the Vitality Women's FA Cup for only the second time.
Fliss Gibbons settled a hard-fought tie against Championship Charlton with only her third goal for the club midway through the second half. Both of her previous goals also came in cup ties, including one against Huddersfield Town in the last round.
Albion dominated for long spells particularly in the second half and can now look forward to playing for a place in the Wembley final when the semis take place on 31 October.
Hope Powell named a strong team with six of the players who faced Aston Villa in the WSL in the starting XI and six Academy players named on the bench.
Albion had a let-off in the seventh minute when they failed to clear a cross and the ball dropped to Jessica King inside the six-yard box. Her volley beat Megan Walsh but came back off the bar.
The visitors looked lively early on but Albion settled and Megan Connolly should have scored in the 20th minute when Katie Robinson’s right-wing cross found her unmarked ten yards out but she failed to keep her right-foot shot on target. Moments later Robinson’s cross skimmed along the top of the crossbar before going out of play.
Albion had a lot of the ball for the rest of the first half but didn’t really test Charlton keeper Eartha Cumings.
Powell brought on Emma Koivisto at the break and the home side began to up the ante. Maya Le Tissier’s volley was deflected over and Cumings did well to punch away a couple of dangerous corners from under her crossbar.
Gibbons thought she had scored in the 67th minute after Ellie Brazil cushioned Robinson’s cross into her path but Cumings made a great block. However, Albion recycled possession and when Koivisto’s cross found Gibbons she swept a left-foot volley past the keeper from 12 yards into the bottom corner to put Albion ahead.
On the balance of play it was no more than they deserved and substitute Victoria Williams nearly added a second but ran out of room at the far post after good work by Aileen Whelan.
Walsh had been a spectator for much of the second half but she was alert deep into stoppage time to pull off a brilliant save to keep out Kiera Skeels’ shot but over the 90 minutes Albion deserved to go through.
Albion: Walsh, Green (Koivisto 45), Gibbons, Kerkdijk (Cordier 90), Le Tissier, Whelan, Connolly, Babajide, Robinson (Adebowale 86), Brazil. Kaagman.
Subs: Simpkins, Williams, Angel, Nokuthula, Longhurst, Jones.