It was Newbury however, who imposed themselves straight from the kick-off, forcing two corners inside the opening 10 minutes. Full back Zoe Lambden going close with a header. This signalled the home side’s intent, as further chances were created, with both Newbury strikers, Jenny Petrylak and Ruby Oliver having efforts blocked and saved. Ellie Reed then had the ball in the Reading net on the quarter hour mark, only to have the effort ruled out for off side.

Wave after wave of Newbury attacks followed, but the game remained goalless thanks to several good saves from the Reading keeper and also the wood work, with the ball cannoning against a post and out from another Newbury corner. Reading were finding it difficult to make any headway in the match, with the Newbury defence looking calm and untroubled. Both Petrylak and Newbury’s Gemma Povey went close with headers, and Ruby Oliver again rattled the cross bar with a first time shot from the edge of the area. Still the score line stayed at nil-nil as half time approached, and in the dying moments of the half, Newbury skipper, Leanne Crease sent a looping shot towards the top left corner, but saw it go just wide by the narrowest of margins.

Although nil-nil, Newbury took great heart from their first half performance, as they had totally dominated the proceedings, but they needed a goal to break the deadlock. It was Leanne Crease who found the opening in the 65th minute, after she was played in by Petrylak. Crease, in a race with the Reading full back, beat her for pace, took the ball clear, before she unleashed an unstoppable shot that sailed over the goalkeeper’s head and into the roof of the net. One nil to Newbury.

Just three minutes later and Newbury went 2 goals ahead, thanks to the best footballing move of the match. The ball was played up from midfield, with some wonderful one touch passing from both Petrylak and Reed. Ruby Oliver spun off the last defender as the ball was played through and then there was no stopping her. As she bore down on goal, her strong right foot finish gave the goalkeeper no chance and gave her side a well deserved 2-nil lead.

Newbury should then have closed the game out, but Reading made a substitution and rallied to force a goal of their own on 75 minutes, when the home side failed to prevent a cross coming in from the right and it was converted at the far post. With the score now at 2-1, it could have been a nervy last quarter of an hour for Newbury, but they refused to allow Reading to gain any momentum and dug in again themselves, showing great character. Another searching cross from Crease on Newbury’s right wing left the visiting keeper hopelessly flapping, and the ball fell to an unmarked Ellie Reed, who stabbed home at the back post.

3-1 to Newbury the final score and this result secured their first league victory of the season so far, in what was an excellent all round team performance.