Newbury kicked off and went on the attack straight away through Nicole Beesley and Kendall Gilmour. Bridgwater were able to avert the danger however and then press forward themselves. Newbury’s goalkeeper, Chloe Hunt, came off her line quickly to pressure the home striker on the edge of the area and the ball broke loose, with Hunt then caught out of position. Cleverly Bridgwater played the ball back into the path of their on-coming midfielder, who struck a thunderous first time shot into the roof of the net to open the scoring and give Bridgwater a one nil lead.

Although Newbury’s preparation had been excellent, this was not the start that they’d wanted. But with barely ten minutes played, both sides were going all out in attack and it was proving end to end, with plenty of thrills and spills. Newbury were looking for an equaliser and Bridgwater were intent on extending their lead. Gilmour, Ellie Reed and Leanne Creese all had shots saved by the keeper, and Hunt was again called into action to save brilliantly for Newbury, tipping a high shot just over the bar.

In fact, Hunt went onto make a string of fine saves in the first half, with the Bridgwater attack causing plenty of problems. But as the half hour mark approached, Newbury’s captain, Creese, was becoming more influential, with one of her shots well saved for a corner. Beesley then had a shot charged down by the goalkeeper, but before Bridgwater had fully cleared, the ball was won back by Creese. She drove forward and unleashed a low shot from the edge of the area, which was perfectly placed and nestled inside the far post for 1-1 on 34 minutes.

It was now all Newbury pressure up to the half time whistle, with chances falling to Gilmour, who had two shots saved and saw one header flash just wide from a corner. The best opportunity was worked by Beesley in the left hand channel, who stormed into the area, crossing from the by-line. The ball flew past the keeper at the near post, with Creese baring in on the cross at the back post, seemingly with the goal gaping. But as she connected and the ball headed goal-ward, the Bridgwater goalkeeper hurled herself across to miraculously make the save and keep the score-line at level pegging, with one goal apiece at half time.

Newbury Ladies started the second half just as strongly as they finished the first, with Beesley and Gilmour combining intelligently to carve out further chances. 11 minutes after the interval, Beesley won the ball back deep into Bridgwater territory and played a pass out to Reed. She struck a first time lofted shot from 20 yards that gave the goalkeeper no chance. It was a glorious goal and it gave Newbury the lead for the first time in the match. 2-1 now the score-line.

The visitors from Berkshire couldn’t hold onto that lead for long however, as Bridgwater forced two corners in quick succession. Newbury thought the danger had passed, but just as their defensive line had stepped up, a diagonal ball caught them out and the Bridgwater striker was again through on goal. Hunt came out quickly to narrow the angle, but the ball was toe poked past her and agonisingly rolled into the empty net. The tie was now drawn again at 2-2 with an hour played.

The match was still being played at an incredibly high tempo and it was an enthralling encounter for the supporters of both teams and so finely balanced. The game’s huge turning point came in the 71st minute, when a home player went to ground inside the Newbury box under pressure from Laura Ainscough. Despite Newbury protests that no contact was made, a penalty was awarded and duly converted to once more put Bridgwater into 3-2 lead.

With just 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Ainscough was replaced by Bex Walker, as Newbury were again in search of an equalising goal to bring themselves once more back into the tie. Newbury were pushing fully in attack and starting to throw everything at the Bridgwater defence, but the home side held firm and defended strongly. Even pushing two Newbury defenders up the pitch, when Sam McConnon replaced Reed on 85 minutes, was a gamble that just didn’t quite have the desired effect. Bridgwater then stole forward on a quick breakaway in stoppage time to score a fourth and decisive goal that killed the match.

4-2 was the final score-line, but the entire Newbury squad couldn’t have given more and were desperately unlucky to find themselves knocked out of the competition.