The early goal seemed to wake up the Warsash players and the contest then became more even, with each team seeming to take it turns to attack each end. Then midway through the half, Newbury had again worked up a head of steam. First a ball into space by Truelove, sent Becky Anderson away, but her shot from 25 yards was just over the bar. Then after a strong run by Gemma Burnett, her cross fell centrally to Reed, but her shot was well gathered by the keeper. But in the 32nd minute, Warsash struck back, when Newbury failed to clear their lines. With the ball only half cleared, it was slammed back into the net by a Warsash midfielder, from just inside the ‘D’ for one, one. And just three minutes later, Warsash took the lead, when Newbury’s defence again failed to clear fully under pressure, and another shot from inside the box was buried to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage.

With half time approaching, Newbury rallied and Burnett dragged her team back into the contest. It was route one, but effective. From a Newbury goal kick, Leanne Saunders got a flick-on that sent Burnett racing away towards the Warsash goal. With three defenders chasing and closing in on her, Burnett did brilliantly to maintain her composure, get the ball under control and pick her spot, low into the bottom corner. Newbury had levelled on 40 minutes and it was now 2-2.

Newbury had two further guilt-edged chances just before half time, when both Burnett and then Anderson sent in pin point crosses from the right. Newbury’s Amy McNab was lurking on each occasion inside the six yard box, but the first cross was cut out just inches from her by a good defensive challenge, and then the Warsash goalkeeper pulled off a point blank save after McNab has connected with the second cross. This saw Warsash keep the scores level at the break, two goals apiece.

The match was very finely balanced as the second half kicked off and the next goal would be crucial. Sadly for Newbury, it went Warsash’s way after 59 minutes, when a speculative long range effort, was caught in the wind and drifted high over the head of the Newbury keeper, dropping just one inch under the cross bar to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. So once again, Newbury found themselves behind in the game, but they had pulled themselves back on level terms before and now must do it again. As the second half progressed however, Newbury were not as threatening as they had been in the first half, and if anything, Warsash’s team looked the more likely. And so it proved as late as the 78th minute when the visitors added a fourth goal. At 4-2, Newbury now had a mountain to climb and not enough time left to do it in.

Straight after the re-start, a bursting run by Sam Atkins, saw her cruise past two Warsash players and the space opened up for her. She shot from 25 yards and the ball was heading for the far corner, but was tipped round the post by the visiting keeper. This gave Newbury some hope and they rushed to take the corner. McNab connected with the set play, but not with enough force and Warsash were able to clear. This was Newbury’s last real chance and with frustrations starting to boil over, the Referee’s whistle signalled the end of the game after two minutes of injury time. Warsash Wasps would be taking all three points back to the south coast, their first points of the season and they had now closed the gap to Newbury to just one point at the foot of the Premier Division table.

Match Report by Sue Hewett