It was to be no happy farewell however, as the final score line went in favour of the visitors. This was despite the early pressure in the opening period all coming from Newbury. First Ellie Reed pounced on a poor goal kick, but her shot from distance could only find the side netting. Then after Newbury skipper, Leanne Creese, was sent away on a break down the right, her cross in-field was met by striker, Nicole Beesley, whose effort was well saved by the Banbury keeper.

With Beesley and her team mate, Emma O’Leary having further shooting chances, the home side had racked up six attempts on goal inside 16 minutes, with no reply from Banbury. Unfortunately for Newbury, they were made to pay for not converting during this spell of early dominance. When a long ball was sent down field by the Banbury keeper, the Newbury defence failed to deal with, nor react to the danger. Instead, the visiting striker showed fleet of foot to collect the bouncing ball and skip through on goal. She calmly slid a pin point shot past the advancing keeper and opened the scoring for her side.

A very quick sucker punch followed just seconds later on 18 minutes, when another Banbury pass was played over the top of the defence. Again the striker was through one on one with the keeper, with the defenders unable to catch her. This time the finish was slotted through the keeper’s legs and extended Banbury’s lead. They had had two attempts and were now two goals ahead.

Newbury were visibly shaken, whereas the confidence in the Banbury players had soared. Harkness and Lorna Parr, who had returned to a central midfield berth for Newbury in this match, were both working really hard to try to contain Banbury’s passing and movement. As the half continued, Newbury did find themselves with some spells of possession, but again saw their efforts either wide or comfortably saved by the goalkeeper.

The first half ended poorly for Newbury, as they fell further behind in the 41st minute to a third Banbury goal following a corner that wasn’t cleared.

Recognising that they were architects of their own downfall during the half time break, Newbury re-took to the field for the second half with a renewed sense of purpose to restore their self-belief and pride. A well-matched and competitive 15 minutes followed at the start of the half, with no change in the score line. Then Newbury were dealt a further blow in the 59th minute.

The Referee had failed to spot a blatant foul on the edge of the Newbury ‘D’, as centre half, Sophie Self, was floored under a late challenge. With players and spectators alike baffled that play was allowed to continue with no foul given, it was then the same Banbury player who had just committed the tackle that took advantage of the resulting confusion to stab home from close range. At 4 nil down and with still half an hour to play, most sides would have been forgiven for folding completely, but Newbury Ladies showed that they were prepared to stick together and battle away, despite seeing little reward for their efforts on the day.

With just under 25 minutes left on the clock, Newbury brought on Lauren Sheldon at right midfield. Shortly after they also switched to just three at the back, pushing Reed up as the third striker. This did give them more impetus going forward, but it did mean they were always then vulnerable to a Banbury counter attack. The visitors duly scored a fifth goal on 76 minutes, when a thunderous header from a corner sailed over the head of Newbury’s goalkeeper and into the roof of the net.

It wasn’t to be a total walk over however, as Beesley for Newbury, seemed determined to try to get on the score sheet, even though the match was now well and truly beyond the grasp of the home side. Naomi Purvis played a lofted pass forward, which Beesley collected well and then cut in from the left flank. She beat the Banbury keeper all ends up, but then saw a covering defender just get back in time to clear the ball from right on the goal line. There was some half-hearted debate as to whether the whole of the ball had already crossed the line before it was cleared, but it was to make no real difference to the game’s result.

Then in the 89th minute, Beesley did manage to find the finish and give her side a consolation goal, after a good through ball from Harkness.

The match finishing in a 5-1 defeat for Newbury Ladies and bringing a sad end to Caroline Harkness’ last appearance, after 15 wonderful years playing girls and ladies football in Newbury. She departs for exciting new horizons with the best wishes of everyone past and present connected to the club.