Arsenal Ladies hope to go on and retain the FA Women's Cup

The defending champions raced into a 4-0 first half lead before teenager Sophie Barker pulled a goal back.

Arsenal added a fifth in the final stages of the match, but Adams felt they were made to work for their win.

He said: "We must now learn from this match and apply it to the final three games of our league campaign."

The Lady Imps are second in the Northern division of the FA Women's Premier league, with only goal difference keeping them behind leaders Nottingham Forest.

Adams told BBC Radio Lincolnshire: "I truly believe that Lincoln City Ladies is a mid-table National Division side, and we want the chance to be able to prove that next season."

As soon as the ball came to me I thought, one touch and I'm going to hit this. So I took the touch and 'bang'! Top corner. Sophie Barker

Goalscorer Barker insisted that the Lady Imps had not been overawed by their illustrious opponents.

The 17-year-old said: "We just wanted to play for us, we didn't care if they were top class players, players that we'd seen on TV.

"We just thought, 'You know what? We're going to go out and we're going to do this'."

And Barker followed that advice, scoring with a stunning strike from the edge of the penalty area.

"As soon as the ball came to me I thought, one touch and I'm going to hit this," she said. "So I took the touch and 'bang'! Top corner."