Although Newbury kicked off the match, they came under some intense early pressure from their opponents, who were showing good passing and movement. So it was no surprise when Tower Hill took the lead inside the first ten minutes, their striker was played through on goal and sent a delicate lob over the Newbury keeper’s head and into the net.

Newbury’s first scoring effort came on 20 minutes, after good play by Sarah Haughey in midfield. Newbury forced a corner that was not properly cleared and Allison Bartholomew sent in a looping shot that drifted narrowly over the bar. It was now Newbury that were having the best of the attacking play, as they went in search of an equaliser. After good work down the right flank by Lauren Sheldon, combining well with Amy Lambden, it was Newbury’s Nicole Beesley who got in behind the visitors’ defence. She kept the ball alive almost on the by-line and played a delicate chipped pass to the near post, where Caroline Harkness had advanced. But the Tower Hill goalkeeper came out well to gather.

The Tower Hill defence kept Newbury at bay until 41 minutes, when Harkness stepped up to take a free kick 30 yards out. Her clipped ball was desperately headed backwards by a defender and into her own net. An own goal that put the home side back on level pegging at 1-1. The score line did not remain that way for very long, as within a minute of the re-start Tower Hill had retaken the lead from a corner. The ball was only half cleared by Newbury and the follow-up shot wriggled just inside the post, for Tower Hill to go into the half time break with a 2-1 advantage.

At the start of the second period, Newbury had regrouped and were determined to take the attack to Tower Hill. With only 46 minutes on the clock, Newbury’s Harkness ran onto a ball played over the top of the defence. She gambled on the goalkeeper making a hash of it, which is exactly what happened, leaving Harkness to round the stranded keeper and side foot into an empty net. Newbury were delighted to have again come from behind for the second time in the match, with the game now finely balanced at 2 goals apiece.

However Newbury were unable to get their noses in front and it was Tower Hill who regained the lead on 70 minutes. Newbury lost the ball inside their own half and were made to pay, as the visitors launched the ball into the Newbury penalty area. The runner from Tower Hill was not tracked and she pulled a cross back towards the penalty spot, where an advancing midfielder ran onto it and tucked the ball emphatically away for 3-2.

Just 4 minutes later and Tower Hill had stretched their lead to 4-2. This time a long range shot was spilled by the Newbury keeper and the Tower Hill striker pounced on the loose ball to stab home from 5 yards. Newbury’s players were clearly deflated and they conceded again to a freakish effort on 77 minutes. Another long range Tower Hill shot, took a wicked bounce just 6 yards in front of the goalkeeper and it skipped up and spun into Newbury’s net. That fifth goal for the visitors killed off the match, with 5-2 the final result. But it was harsh on Newbury, as they were in the game for long periods, without finding that cutting edge in the final third on the day.