Just prior to the quarter hour mark however, Stanford had a rare foray into the Newbury half, forcing a corner. With the ball not cleared properly, a second Stanford shot is deflected, but Newbury goalkeeper, Kat Brown, gets down well to get a hand to the ball. The loose ball is then spinning towards the line and on the line, but Brown recovers well to save, despite Stanford protests that the ball had gone in. It was judged no goal and play continued.

Newbury then had a corner cleared off the Stanford goal-line. But the deadlock was finally broken on 24 minutes, when a cross by Hill was met side footed by Nicole Beesley, who stroked home for 1-0 to Newbury.

Stanford were still in the game however, with Newbury’s Nicky Isted called upon to cover and clear on the right. Before the next Stanford attack resulted in a shot over the bar, much to Newbury’s relief. Alex Kovacsova then had the ball in the back of the Stanford net, but it was ruled out for off side. Stanford pressed as half time approached, but Newbury stood firm and took the one nil lead into the interval.

After the re-start, Newbury again began with lots of desire and intent and they were almost immediately rewarded, with Hill picking up a loose ball inside the penalty area. She turned cleverly and beat the goalkeeper with an accurate low shot into the left corner for two nil. Just four minutes later however and Stanford were allowed to pull a goal back, with a high cross/shot finding the top left corner, giving the Newbury goalkeeper no chance. The match was again in the balance at two goals to one in Newbury’s favour.

There then followed a fairly even period of play, with the next goal going to prove decisive to the match outcome. It took Newbury until the 67th minute to extend their lead and it was a slightly scrappy goal, but not that Newbury’s players were worried too much about that. After having one corner hitting the post, Newbury were then awarded a free kick for hand ball, 25 yards from goal. When Stanford failed to clear from the Gilmour set piece, the ball was finally scrambled into the net after several Newbury attempts, the last touch from close range coming from the lively Kovacsova. 3-1 now to Newbury.

This third Newbury goal knocked the stuffing out of the Stanford players and Newbury were now able to attack at will. They were peppering the Stanford goal, with shots coming from Jazz Bird and Nicky Isted, who was able to advance more and more from the full back position. In the 82nd minute another Gilmour free kick caused damage, with a perfectly timed run from Jazz Bird, leaving her one-on-one with the keeper. She found a sumptuous volleyed finish to give Newbury an unassailable 4-1 lead.

Newbury scored again just two minutes later. This time, influential captain, Gilmour getting on the score sheet when she picked up a ball about 25 yards out. She unleashed a low shot, which hit the ground just in front of the diving keeper and then spun away and into the net for 5-1. And that remained the final score-line, so it was very much job well done for Newbury. It was their fifth victory of the league campaign and moved them up onto 17 points, with four games left to play.

Player of the Match for Newbury Ladies FC was the ever reliable, Saide Gulliver.

Match report by Sue Hewett