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| Thames Valley Counties Women's League Division 1 |
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| 13th March 2005 |
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| Reading Girls 1 AFC Newbury 2 |
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| Following their last disastrous league match where Newbury forfeited their game advantage over second place Denham it was important to get a win in this match to get back on target for the league and cup double. Fielding their strongest squad, only missing the injured Kelly Stokes, Newbury put immediate pressure on Reading pressing the game into Reading' half for much of the opening period. However the strong Reading defence soaked up the pressure and Newbury were having difficulty in getting shots on target until the ball squeezed under the keeper and an alert Chelsea Starbuck was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net from close range. This encouraged Newbury and they were to go 2 up when Leanne struck an excellent volley into the net from close range, again from a cross from the right. The lead seemed comfortable until just before halftime when Reading scored from a free kick after the referee overuled the Newbury protests and the linesman's flag for offside.
The second half saw even more pressure from Newbury, notably down the left wing where Lisa Duncan was having a commanding game supported by Emma Theochari who was winning lots of ball particularly with her head. Newbury were getting in some shots but they were either off target or at the keeper. Reading were relying on big kicks down the centre and this caused the occassional moment of panic in the Newbury defence. With minutes to go Newbury could have conceded a goal when a cross from the right beat both the diving keeper and the attacker. This left Newbury as winners 2-1.
Rivals Denham also had a close game winning 4-3 away to Woodstock a result which kept the critical goal difference +4 in favour of Newbury with both teams having to play 2 more league games.
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| Players: Chloe Hunt, Kelly Doe, Gemma Povey (capt), Hannah Burgess, Emma Theochari, Lisa Duncan, Leanne Creese, Caz Harkness, Chelsea Starbuck, Kendall Gilmour, Sam Sowerby |
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| Referee: M. Hall |
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| Goal scorers |
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Chelsea Starbuck
Leanne Creese
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| Player of the match |
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Lisa Duncan
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| Next fixture |
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20th March 2005
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Wycombe Wanderers
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at Faraday Road Stadium
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