As the home side, Newbury enjoyed some good early pressure, with debutant, Imogen Gibbons, heavily involved down the left flank. Denham came more into the game after the opening ten minutes, forcing a corner, which Newbury were able to deal with and spring a quick counter attack of their own through Ruby Oliver and Amie Barnard. Barnard then linked up with overlapping full back, Nicky Isted, down Newbury’s right. Isted sending in a good cross, which the Denham keeper did well to claim.

Although Denham gained another corner, it was Newbury who were more penetrating with their play in the final third. Further half chances coming for Caz Harkness and then Maria Rodrigues, with both being robbed by last ditch tackles in the Denham penalty area. As the first half hour approached, the match was fairly even and the score-line remained goal-less at the first break.

After the re-start, Newbury made four changes, with Ellie Reed, Gemma Burnett, Tracey Beales and Leanne Creese introduced. Beales almost made an immediate impact, when she was found with a pass on the edge of the area, after Gibbons had cut in from the left. Beales’ first time shot stung the hands of the Denham goalkeeper and as the ball spilled forward slightly, Creese was following in for the rebound, but the keeper was able to recover quickly enough and gather the ball back in.

All of the attacking pressure was now coming from Newbury, with Reed and Beales both helping Harkness to dominate in the middle of the park. Creese was seeing plenty of good service on the right and she sent in a quality cross on 39 minutes, which was met by Burnett, but her first touch was a heavy one and it allowed the Denham keeper to come and claim. The scoring was opened in the 47th minute when Creese allowed Reed to drive forward and cross again from the right. This time, with both Beales and Burnett flooding the box, Newbury would not be denied. At the near post, Burnett attempted an audacious back heeled attempt as the cross came in, but she only succeeded in dummying and allowing the ball to run through to Beales, who made no mistake and pounced to stab home at the back post for one nil to Newbury.

Within a few minutes, Bex Walker replaced Gibbons, who had performed well on her debut. Still Newbury attacked, with a succession of corners, but the score remained at one nil after 60 minutes and the second interval.

The start of the third period saw the re-introduction of Barnard, Rodrigues and Oliver for Newbury, with Bex Walker asked to fill in at full back for the final half hour. Barnard was involved straight away in so many of Newbury’s attacks. In one chance, she was just thwarted by the Denham keeper, who was having a good game. But then Barnard’s next opportunity saw her attempt to lob the keeper from distance, which she did, but the ball sailed narrowly the wrong side of the post.

It took Newbury until the 84th minute to extend their lead, with the influential Barnard setting up Burnett for a close range shot and goal. Two nil. And then the final play of the match, saw Newbury convert an Ellie Reed corner, with Rodrigues netting with a close range header. 3-0 the final score line in Newbury’s favour.

Match report by Sue Hewett