Newbury had the better of the opening exchanges, with Nicole Beesley having one early effort cleared off the Ascot goal-line. The first half was then fairly even with the visitors breaching the Newbury net on 37 minutes, only to be flagged offside and the goal disallowed. So the game remained goalless until the stroke of half time when Newbury Captain, Leanne Creese won the ball in midfield and fed Kendall Gilmour. She struck from 30 yards out and saw her stunning shot give the Ascot goalkeeper absolutely no chance. It was a thunderous goal and gave Newbury a good one nil lead at half time.

Despite a Caroline Harkness effort striking the foot of the post for Newbury, the home side was under intense pressure for much of the second period. But they hung on well and defended resolutely to keep their first clean sheet of the season. Gilmour’s spectacular first half goal was enough to see Newbury ease into the next round of the FA Women’s Cup, where they will face Bridgwater Town away on Sunday 12th October.