Last Sunday Newbury Ladies met a strong Chesham United side in the Semi Final of the Jubilee Cup competition. But with home advantage and a strong squad of their own, Newbury went into the tie full of confidence.

Chesham, playing in claret and blue, kicked off the match and the opening ten minutes were to prove very even, with no real scoring chances for either side. But then Newbury launched an attack down the right flank, with good interplay between Leanne Creese and Ruby Oliver. It was a cross from Creese that sailed to the back post, where an unmarked Ellie Reed met it, but her shot was just inches over the cross bar. That effort though gave the Newbury players some belief and they began to build some good possession, as they looked to further threaten the Chesham goal.

Then on 22 minutes the match took a dramatic turn. It was Chesham that created a real opening and were so unlucky not to score, as their first shot hit the Newbury cross bar. With the home defence stationary, it was the Chesham forwards that were first to react and the second shot was well saved by Chloe Hunt in the Newbury goal, with a further follow up effort striking the upright and finally being cleared in a real goal mouth scramble.

Chesham had no time to rue their luck however, as Newbury Skipper, Creese strode forward with the ball. She played a neat pass inside to Caroline Harkness, who was still some 35 yards from goal. She skipped past one defender and made the most of a slight rickashay to round another player, and was then through on goal. Harkness made no mistake with the finish, as she stroked the ball home to give Newbury a one nil lead. It was a double blow within seconds for the visitors, as Chesham felt they really should have opened the scoring and yet they found themselves a goal behind as a result of Harkness’ clinical finish.

From that moment on Newbury dominated, with the confidence coursing through the veins of every home player. On the half hour mark, Reed showed good wing play to win a throw on the left. Newbury striker, Lily Chubb flicked on the throw, with another first time touch from Harkness that led to Oliver finding herself in the penalty area but with her back to goal. Her first time touch flicked the ball over the head of the defender and she spun and ran onto the ball, sending a left foot volley just wide of the Chesham post. It was scintillating play from Newbury and a delight for the spectators.

The last 10 minutes of the half, saw a flurry of Newbury corners, with one resulting in a punched clearance from the Chesham goalkeeper, only for the ball to fall to Newbury midfielder, Anna Risdale, on the edge of the area. Her thunderous volley was very well saved by the keeper, who had recovered enough to push the shot around the post for another Newbury corner. Reed sent in a great delivery from the corner and Harkness, who was free inside the 6 yard box, connected with the cross and bundled the ball over the line for 2-nil just 5 minutes prior to the half time break.

Even before the Referee blew for half time, Newbury could have added a third goal, after Reed tore down the left flank, beating two defenders and playing in Harkness. Her trickled shot almost crept inside the near post, but the Chesham keeper got down well to parry and so 2-nil to Newbury was the half time score.

As the second half got underway, Newbury had steeled themselves for a Chesham onslaught, but the home side were compact and organised, keeping things tight and not allowing their opponents to get any sort of foothold in the game. Newbury’s central midfield of Risdale and Lorna Parr in particular, getting through a tremendous amount of work to ensure their team remained in full control.

The move of the match then came on 55 minutes, with Parr and Risdale working the ball forward together and then Oliver receiving on the edge of the Chesham area. She in turn did very well to keep possession, holding the ball up and as she did so, Creese had stormed forward into acres of space on the right. Oliver played a neatly weighted pass out to Creese that allowed her to hit an exquisite first time cross. The quality of the delivery and the whip on the cross were first class, as was the finish. It was Harkness, who else for Newbury, who had risen majestically at the far post to fire in a bullet header into the roof of the Chesham net, giving the goalkeeper no chance. So as Harkness had bagged her hat-trick and third goal of the afternoon, so she had given Newbury a very comfortable 3-nil lead.

With one foot now in the Final, Newbury set about protecting their three goal advantage for the final half hour. Although Chesham did try to rally on a number of occasions, Newbury’s back four and goalkeeper were performing very well. Fresh legs were brought on up front for Newbury, in the shape of Nicole Beesley, as Chubb had run herself into the ground for the team’s cause.

A further Newbury substitution was made on 70 minutes, with Reed taken off and Creese switched to left midfield, with Sam McConnon slotting into full back. Both changes proved seamless for Newbury and helped to stem the flow of the last few Chesham attacks. Newbury’s final substitution was to see Leanne Saunders replace Oliver on the right wing for the last ten minutes, where she helped to shore up the midfield.

Newbury forged one last opening, after great hold up play from Beesley, now playing as the lone striker. She beat a defender and drove into the penalty area where she cut the ball back to Risdale. She too elected to pass across goal, where Harkness was waiting to make a side foot finish into the top corner. But it wasn’t to be her fourth goal of the day, as the Referee has adjudged her to be offside and the effort was ruled out.

The last drama of the match came in the final few moments when Chesham won a penalty, but for Chloe Hunt in the Newbury goal to make the save by pushing the shot onto the bar and over. In doing so, she protected Newbury’s clean sheet and denied the visitors any form of consolation. 3-nil the final score to Newbury Ladies and an excellent victory that sees them soar into the Final of the Jubilee Cup.