| Newbury Ladies faced Kingsclere Ladies last Sunday 4th August, with the fixture played at a neutral venue in Ecchinswell. This was the first friendly fixture of the season for Newbury Ladies FC and it proved a useful run out, although they were without a recognised goalkeeper.
Kingsclere had a strong looking 5 player midfield, which tested Newbury in the opening stages, although their defence looked well organised. Newbury made their first substitution on 15 minutes, swapping goalkeepers, but they conceded the opener almost immediately. They failed to deal with a Kingsclere attack and the ball wasn’t cleared from the area, with the resulting low shot leaving Lauren Hanson no chance on the Newbury goal-line.
As the first half wore on, Newbury gradually began to string some passes together and showed some attacking intent in the final third. One excellent move involved some good link up play between Newbury’s Captain, Rachel Panting, and full back, Sam McConnon, who went on a storming run down the left flank. Her cross from wide was high, looping and very awkward for the Kingsclere defence. Their goalkeeper came under pressure from Newbury’s Gemma Burnett and Lauren Sheldon, and it was a Kingslcere defender who headed the ball into her own net to even the scores at one goal apiece.
Unfortunately for Newbury they couldn’t hold out until half time and they conceded again shortly before the break. This time Newbury’s defence were caught too high and were undone by an excellent diagonal pass to the Kingsclere number 9. She showed good pace to break away and beat the keeper in a one-on-one situation. So it was Kingsclere who took a 2-1 lead at half time.
After the re-start Newbury started to show a little more composure and quality in their passing. Panting and Ellie Reed were starting to click, with Reed showing a good eye for a pass. Burnett was sent clear on a couple of occasions, but she couldn’t find the target. Then Reed sent Panting clear of the Kingsclere defence and she easily rounded the keeper and stroked the ball home into the empty net. This was Newbury’s second goal and second equaliser of the day. 2-2 now the score.
Both teams began to tire towards the end, but the match finished with Kingsclere having the better chances, as they somehow hit the crossbar twice, following two terrific shots from distance. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.
Match report by Sue Hewett.
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