Coming as it did, at the end of an emotional week for the Club following the untimely death of Houghton’s former teammate Zoe Tynan, Steph hailed the professionalism of her teammates in coming through this mentally-exhausting, tough test.
Houghton was one of the key performers on the day, blocking a goalbound Kelly Smith shot with five minutes remaining.
Steph told ManCity.com: “Zoe was a teammate of ours for a year and of course it’s been a tough week.
“The emotions ran through the team making it a hard day for us but we were so professional and we got through it together, whether it was adrenaline or emotion, we did it and we’re through to the final.
“We’ve had a really tough week as a team but to come through and to beat a team with the quality of Arsenal and to withstand so much pressure at points in the game, we’ve got to be very proud of ourselves and delighted to be in the final which is going to be held here.”
Steph admits that City will hope to make home advantage pay in the final of the competition against Birmingham City Ladies.
The Continental Cup was the first trophy the team won together in the first year of MCWFC back in 2013.
For that reason, it’s a trophy with special significance to City’s skipper.
Houghton added: “Because it’s the first and only trophy we’ve won it’s a special trophy for us, coming within that first special season we were formed.
“We want to win trophies – whether it’s the Continental Cup, the FA Cup or the league, we want to win as many as we can.
“By all accounts, all clubs had an option to host the final. With a stadium like this and facilities like this, I don’t see why we can’t. The FA have chosen us – for us it’s going to be a little bit of an advantage but at the same time the options were there for the other clubs to have the final.
“The most important thing for us is that we’re in the final and we’re going to compete for that trophy!”
