Women’s FA Cup: Epiphany Warriors make historic quarter final berth with late win over Sea Lions

Epiphany Warriors advanced to the last 8 of the ongoing 2023/24 Women’s FA Cup after defeating Women’s Premier League side Sea Lions Ladies 2-1 at the Ndoum Sports Complex in Elmina.

The GARFA division one side ensured they made history by qualifying for the quarter-finals after scoring late in injury time thanks to a Jennifer Darwah strike with just seconds left on the clock.

With the game delayed for over 30 minutes due to heavy downpours, it was the visitors who enjoyed a flying start to the cagey game, threatening the Sea Lions with a couple of shots in the opening minutes.

Epiphany Warriors captain, Gifty Acheampong, opened the scoring for her side in the 30th minute. The striker maintained composure to slot home past the Sea Lions goalkeeper to put her side in firm control.

The Premier League side will elevate their game after going down but failed to grab the equalizer going into the break.

Sea Lions midfielder, Mohammed Mariam, in the 77th minute, gave her side hope and a great spark after her shot beat Epiphany Warriors goalkeeper Martha Annan to draw her side level.

The last 10 minutes of the game saw both teams throw caution to the wind, both sides throwing everything at each other as they went in search of the all-important winner.

Epiphany Warriors will be rewarded for their tenacity and determination in the dying minutes of the game after striker Jennifer Darwah scored a spectacular goal to help her side advance to the next round, sending her technical team and bench players onto the pitch to celebrate the historic goal.

The hard-fought victory means the Warriors have qualified to play in the last 8 of the FA Cup, a feat that has never been achieved in the club's history. It also means they’ve advanced a stage further than they did in last year’s competition where they got eliminated in the round of 16 by Premier League side Army Ladies.

The date for the draw for the quarterfinal pairings is set to be communicated by the GFA.

But the history-makers will remain in jubilant mode as they await their quarterfinal fate.