Fowler wins FA Cup with Man City as fans honour Aussie coach's late father

Mary Fowler's Manchester City lifted the Women's FA Cup for the fourth time in the past decade. (Getty Images: Rob Newell/CameraSport)

Mary Fowler has won the Women's FA Cup with Manchester City, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 4-0 at Wembley.

Brighton featured fellow Matilda Charlize Rule and is coached by Australian Dario Vidošić.

Brighton fans unveiled a large banner in the stands in honour of Vidošić's father, Rado, a well-known figure in Australian football, who died in January.

Mary Fowler has picked up the first cup winners' medal of her career after Manchester City defeated Dario Vidošić's Brighton and Hove Albion 4-0 at Wembley.

The Women's FA Cup final triumph completed a memorable end to the season for the Australian international, who only returned from a long-term knee injury in February.

She subsequently played a key role as City took the domestic double, having clinched the Women's Super League earlier in May: Fowler's first league champions' medal.

It was a deflating day for Brighton manager Vidošić, though he could be proud of the way his team played for much of the club's first final.

They were far the better side for Sunday's opening half-hour, and with better finishing could have sprung a shock. There was much for the ambitious coach and club to build on.

Pre-match, there was a touching tribute to Vidošić's father, Rado, a well-known figure in Australian football, who died aged 64 in January.

Rado had been working alongside his son in England, and as the teams lined up, Brighton fans raised a giant tifo celebrating Rado with his and Dario's faces on it and the words: FATHER, COACH, MENTOR.

"It was a beautiful thing to see, and a massive thank you to the club and the fans," said Vidošić.

"He would have loved to have been a part of today, but I'm sure he was in a way; he was probably at the best seat in the house, somewhere watching it, and he would have been really, really proud of the girls."

While Fowler began the match on City's bench, her fellow Matilda, Charlize Rule, started for Albion and was quickly influential, stepping inside from right-back to rotate possession as the underdogs began confidently.

It was Rule, striding forward from defence, who created the first opening. She released Japanese striker Kiko Seiko, who crossed for Fran Kirby, only for the England veteran's close-range shot to be blocked.

Kirby, a five-time FA Cup winner with Chelsea, was the only Albion player with previous experience of the occasion, but they were far from overawed. Former Sydney FC title-winner Madison Haley was a constant thre