Newbury Ladies Football
Match Report -- Season 2019-20
Thames Valley Counties League Cup Round 1
Sunday 27th October 2019
Newbury Development 2 Tower Hill 2 (2-4 on Penalties)
Newbury Ladies Development Team entertained Tower Hill Ladies, who are in the division above, in the 1st round of the League Cup competition lt Donnington. Tower Hill opened brightly and had the 1st shot of the game under real pressure from Newbury’s Lorna Kinder-Parr, which enabled Lauren Hanson in the Newbury goal to make a simple save. Newbury then started to apply pressure down both flanks with Issy Cording getting the 1st shot at the visiting keeper.

The game was now evenly balanced with attacks coming from both teams. However although Tower Hill were more dominant in midfield Newbury were looking more likely to score. Rebecca Chitolie was looking dangerous in both her crossing and shooting. She had several shots which went just wide and one hit the post. On 20 minutes it was Hanson, in Newbury’s goal, that was to keep the score at 0-0 with an excellent save which rebounded off the post to an attacker whose powerful follow up shot was deflected for a corner.

At 35 minutes after a really nice move out of Newbury’s defence, started by Ayala Truelove, the ball was played down the left via Chitolie and Molly Baker. The ball came back to Chitolie whose cross was finished off neatly by Abi Ayling. It looked like Newbury would be 1 up at half time but with just a minute of the 1st half to go, Tower Hill broke through the middle. The attacker was 1 on 1 with Hanson, who came off her line smartly to make an excellent save only to see the ball rebound off the attacker into the back of the net. This gave Tower Hill an equalising goal to make it one apiece at the break.

The second half was very similar to the first. Newbury scored their second goal 9 minutes into the half when Cording crossed the ball to Louise Gulliver, whose quick lateral pass to Ayling was passed into the bottom corner of the goal past the diving keeper. Both teams were getting in lots of shots. Tower Hill were unlucky to hit the bar, but Nicole Beesley who was now in goal for Newbury, made an excellent save off the second shot. It was however Tower hill who equalised 22 minutes into the second half, after a strong attack through the middle leaving Beesley no chance to save.

For the final period of the half it was Newbury who looked the likeliest to score with shots from Kinder-Parr, Baker, Maria Rodrigues and several by Chitolie. However it Ayling who minutes from the end was the player who almost scored a hattrick with a shot which if it was 6 inches higher would have left the keeper stranded. But the match ended on 90 minutes with the scores tied at 2-2 and so it went to penalties. Unfortunately Tower Hill were more accurate from the spot, taking the victory 4-2, so Newbury will now compete in the Plate competition later in the season.

It had been an excellent, competitive game played in very good spirit.

Match report by Jack Harkness

Players: Lauren Hanson, Ayala Truelove, Lauren Sheldon, Molly Baker, Sam McConnon, Lorna Kinder-Parr, Maria Rodrigues (Capt), Abigail Ayling, Rebecca Chitolie, Nicole Beesley, Isobelle Cording, Nicole Pearce, Louise Gulliver
Referee: Gary Stratford
Goal scorers
Abi Ayling (2)
Player of the match
Next fixture

Thames Valley Counties League Division 3 South
Sunday 18th April 2021 2 p.m.
Newbury Dev v Thatcham 1st
at Donnington Recreation Ground