It was a tough start for the visitors, as they had to kick off with just ten players, due to the late arrival of Claire Turley, after she was stuck in heavy traffic. So it was no surprise when Wargrave opened the scoring after just seven minutes. Newbury rallied and then they were joined by Turley after 13 minutes, which was a welcome boost, as they were able to start to impose themselves on their hosts, going in search of an equaliser. Nicole Beesley had a penalty appeal turned down and skipper, Kendall Gilmour saw a free kick go narrowly wide.

But the breakthrough for Newbury came after 28 minutes when Bec Walker and Gilmour combined, the former playing in Beesley, who’s shot evaded the keeper and sailed into the roof of the net for

1-1. Despite further Newbury pressure, the match remained finely balanced and the teams were still tied at one goal apiece as the Referee blew for half time.

Newbury were definitely looking the more dangerous after the interval and the momentum was swinging in their favour, with shots from Beesley and Walker, that the Wargrave keeper did extremely well to save. Then on 50 minutes, Gilmour proved her dominance again, when she won a ball deep in the opposition’s half and cleverly played in Walker, who had held her run to evade the off-side trap. Through on goal, Walker slotted coolly past the keeper to give Newbury a 2-1 lead.

And the game was all but wrapped up just six minutes later, when Nicole Pearce strode out of defence with the ball, before feeding Beesley with a penetrating pass. Her turn and shot was poetic, and as the ball nestled in the far corner of the net, she wheeled away to join her team mates in celebration. 3-1 now to Newbury.

While there was still half an hour to play, the stuffing was well and truly knocked out of Wargrave’s players and Newbury were able to cruise to victory, enjoying their second cup win of the season in this County Cup competition. They will now relish the Third Round draw, before returning to league action next week, when they will host Stanford Ladies at the Donnington Recreation Ground on 25 November, in a 2pm kick off.

Match report by Sue Hewett