Ladies progress in BBFA Senior Women's Cup

United put behind them the disappointment of last week’s defeat in the FA Cup to comprehensively win at Premier Division leaders Ascot United who had won their last three league games, to progress into the second round of Berks & Bucks FA Women’s Senior Cup.

For United this was their fourth successive cup tie in various competitions, a run that will continue with a visit to Fleet Town next Sunday in the second round of the Southern Region Women’s Football League cup.

The first half saw Ascot look to get the ball forward quickly and create the first chance on nine minutes when Mia McCreesh headed straight to Woodley keeper Nicole Haines.

Rosie Page-Smith responded immediately with a long range shot that went wide but the same player opened the scoring after twelve minutes to score past ex-Woodley keeper Lisa Phillips from twenty five yards.

The home team continued to have pressure with the best chance falling to Hannah Evans who shot wide with Haines to beat on twenty minutes. However, this was to be the home teams last threat of the half as Woodley started to look dangerous with Mollie Haines and May Hamblin lively and it was Hamblin who out ran the left back with ten minutes of the half remaining to put a low cross into the goal area for Page-Smith to double the visitors lead.

The second half started with Ascot’s Thea Taylor-Hindle firing a forty yard free kick straight at Haines but it was from a Woodley free kick six minutes after the restart that Hamblin was able to turn in the penalty area and score right footed past Phillips.

Taylor-Hindle was flagged off side before Ascot changed formation to three at the back with just over half an hour to play. However, the change left space for the quick Hamblin to exploit and following good play by Holly Wilkins and Mollie Haines, Hamblin scored her second on fifty nine minutes lobbing Phillips when challenged by two defenders.

Two minutes late Page-Smith saw her effort from an Ellen Surtees free kick land on the roof of the net while another Surtees’ free kick was headed wide by substitute Faye Ward with twenty minutes to play. A minute late Phillips denied Page-Smith her hat trick when parrying for a corner following good approach play by Hamblin and Mollie Haines. This was the first of four successive corners as Ascot struggled to clear their penalty area.

The home team rallied through the tireless Amy Woollard and Evans, the latter shooting wide under pressure from the impressive Natasha Master and then being denied by an outstanding full length dive by Nicole Haines for a corner.

Wilkins did well to beat Phillips went one on one but under hit her shot that went across the face of goal while Hamblin also beat Phillips only to see Lauren Broadbent clear before goal bound shot and Claire Hudson blocked a Mollie Haines effort.

With the game entering the last minute Gloria Bitria beat Haines from forty yards for Ascot’s consolation goal, which could have been doubled a minute later when an effort fizzed across the face of the visitor’s goal for a goal kick.