Stanway scored the crucial second goal as Gareth Taylor’s side retained the trophy with a 3-1 win over the Toffees at Wembley Stadium, where we were made to work hard for the victory.
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City led at the break through Sam Mewis after dominating the first half, but Everton hit back through Valerie Gauvin to take the game to extra-time.
The defending champions hit the bar late in normal time, whilst Everton goalkeeper Sandy MacIver made superb saves to deny Chloe Kelly and Steph Houghton, but Stanway says the squad believed they could get over the line.
“Everton put in an unbelievable performance, but we matched it,” she said.
“We knew we had that extra gear. We knew it was coming. It was just a matter of time. Thankfully we got two towards the end.
“We put in a good performance and worked our socks off and credit to Everton, they made it a really good game.”
For all the Toffees’ efforts, it was City who had the better of the chances and, having failed to put them away, Stanway thinks it is a testament to our character that we were able to bounce back and win the match.
“You could see that we were dominating the game and they were just creating chances off our mistakes,” added the goalscorer.
“If we settled down and started playing our football, we knew it would come.
“It was one of those days where it just happened to come at the end. We put in a really good shift.”
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Despite her confidence, Stanway admits to feeling the nerves when Everton won a free-kick in a promising position minutes before Janine Beckie scored with the last kick of the game to wrap up the win.
The Toffees sent goalkeeper MacIver forward in a last ditch attempt to equalise and City’s No.10 was delighted we were able to see the game out.
“Everton still had a threat and you could see their threat on set pieces,” she said.
“They got a really late set piece so the boots were shaking a little bit but we knew we had it under control. To get the result is unbelievable.”