Barnet Ladies thrillingly reached the quarter finals of The FA Women's Cup today with a 3-2 extra-time win against West Ham United - the only team to have beaten the Bees this season - at Thurrock FC.

There was drama in the closing seconds of the game when referee Mark Ford awarded the Hammers a penalty for handball by Leanne Reidy and booked her for dissent.

The spot kick thudded against a post...and rebounded into play.

The Ladies now have a home tie on February 21 against next Sunday's winners of the Yeovil v Nottingham Forest 5th Round game.

They deservedly won, playing some fine football, despite the handicap of losing diminutive Katie Holmes for two bookable offences in the second half.

The Bees had the impetus of a fourth minute goal when Holly Sandow collected a defence-splitting pass from Stacey Sowden and steered the ball wide of the Hammers goalkeeper.

A defining moment came just after the interval when Danielle Murphy hit the crossbar with an effort...and West Ham then delighted their fans when they levelled matters with 20 minutes to go.

Despite the loss of Holmes, who will be available for the next round because her one-match ban does not kick in for 21 days, Barnet went ahead in the first half of extra-time with a thumping header from Gemma Rudman.

The Hammers made it 2-2 near the end, before Claire Thomas netted the winner after two goalbound shots were frantically blocked.

Then came the penalty miss...and the Bees were in the quarter finals for the second time in their history. They lost then to the professionals of Fulham in 1999-2000.

Footnote: The Ladies were boosted - as in the previous round - by a pre-match pep talk from Ian Hendon. The Barnet manager left for a 12-mile run at the end to boost his fitness for running in the London Marathon.

Dennis Signy