| Due to one or two very late injury withdrawals, Newbury travelled with just 10 players to face Boscombe Albion away from home on Sunday 16th October 2011. Playing a 3-4-2 line-up, they also welcomed back goalkeeper Honor Ramos for her first league match of the season.
From the kick off, Newbury’s Ruby Oliver received the ball and sent a beautiful chipped shot sailing over the head of the Boscombe keeper and into the back of the net for one nil to the visitors. The start could not have been better.
Newbury were again unable to hold onto their lead and just 2 minutes later a tackle was missed inside the Newbury penalty area and the Boscombe striker was too easily able to score an equalising goal. Five minutes after that, Newbury conceded a free kick near the right hand corner flag. From the resulting cross, there was confusion between Honor Ramos and her defence, with Sophie Self ignoring the keeper’s shout to make her own attempted clearance. Unfortunately the ball deflected in off Self and inside Newbury’s near post, with Ramos helpless.
After 12 minutes Newbury’s 10 players found themselves 3-1 down, when another Boscombe attack ended in a goal, whilst Zoe Lambden was off the pitch receiving treatment following an earlier clash of heads. Lambden was able to continue and resume her holding role in central midfield, but by then the damage had been done. As the half drew to a close, Newbury conceded again, to go in with a 4-1 deficit at half time.
There was concern over how Newbury’s fitness levels would hold up in the second half, given that they were battling away with just 10 players against a full Boscombe match squad. Concentration was also a factor and Newbury found that they were again under pressure in the opening period of the second half. On 50 minutes, the unfortunate Self claimed her second own goal of the afternoon, when a right wing crossed deflected off her and into the Newbury net to make it 5-1 for Boscombe.
Ramos, in the Newbury goal, was pulling off several saves and blocks, with one very good save from a back post header on 55 minutes. Unfortunately she could not prevent a sixth goal for long, with Boscombe making it 6-1 on the half hour mark.
Newbury’s best move of the match came 7 minutes before the end, when a good pass down the line from Jenny Petrylak, released Leanne Crease, who attacked the space and eventually won a corner after good persistence. Crease herself took the corner, which was met cleanly by Lambden, but her header was just wide.
Boscombe then launched their own attack and went straight down the other end to score.
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