Manchester City Women beat Birmingham City in extra time to win the Continental Cup final – with boss Nick Cushing remaining with the team despite his wife going into labour.
After the win he admitted he was not aware if his third child had arrived.
England’s Lucy Bronze sealed victory with a far-post header from a corner after a goalless first 90 minutes.
That was enough to win Man City’s third major trophy, just seven days after clinching their first league title.
A lively crowd of 4,214 were at Man City’s Academy Stadium home – which was named as the “neutral venue” for the final in July and Birmingham boss David Parker described it as “the most un-neutral final you’ll see in football” before the game.
Manchester City – who also won the Continental Cup in 2014 – controlled the first half but Birmingham’s German keeper Ann-Katrin Berger did well to tip away Toni Duggan’s cross-goal effort and hold Nikita Parris’ low shot.
Birmingham, beaten finalists in 2011 and 2012, were well-organised with five at the back but rarely threatened the league champions’ goal, although Freda Ayisi and Melissa Lawley both shot wide after the break.
In extra time, Duggan fired over before Bronze’s angled header from a corner opened the scoring and Tessel Middag almost added a second, but struck the post.
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