Taplow kicked off and went on the attack straight away, with Newbury unable to break out of their half in the opening period. The home defence managed to contain the threat however and then forge a breakaway chance of their own. This was after good work from Lauren Sheldon, who combined well with Maria Rodrigues and Kelly Killick. The sweeping move saw Alice Hill move into the box, where she chose to shoot, but was off target.

There was a scary moment for Newbury, when Beesley in the home goal, had a clearance charged down by the Taplow striker. Fortunately for Newbury, the ball rolled just wide. As the first half progressed, the match became move evenly balanced, with chances for both sides. Taplow hit the post and then Beesley was called upon to make a superb one handed save just moments later. Newbury’s best chances were falling to Tracey Beales, but she was foiled by the Taplow keeper, who had advanced well from her goal to narrow the angle and force the shot to go high. With nothing to separate the two teams, it was 0-0 at the interval.

Newbury again had chances in the second half, but they couldn’t convert. At the other end, Beesley was performing at her best to keep the Taplow attackers at bay. She was thwarted though in the 75th minute, when a Taplow break came with a clinical finish. This gave the visitors a one nil lead, whereas Newbury didn’t have long left to try to salvage something from the match. They did though throw everything at Taplow in the final period, winning a string of corners and really turning the screw. But it was Taplow who hung on for the victory, claiming all three points.

Match Report by Sue Hewett