Stoppage time heartache for the Ladies

Woodley United Ladies Berks & Bucks FA Women’s Senior cup adventure came to an end when FA Women’s Premier League members Maidenhead United, playing two divisions higher, scored the winning goal in the second minute of second half stoppage time.

Woodley can be rightly pleased with their performance and at no stage were outplayed by their opponents in a game that was switched to Bulmershe Pavilion due to Maidenhead’s York Road pitch being unplayable.

The opening twenty minutes saw little goal mouth action with the best of the efforts seeing Maidenhead’s keeper Eleanor Parker gather at Rosie Page-Smith’s feet following an Ellen Surtees header, Magpies Hannah Summers heading over the Woodley cross bar from a corner and Nicole Haines diving full length to push a shot away for a corner kick.

Shortly afterwards the home team survived a scare when confusion set in to the Woodley defence as to whether the ball had been passed back to Haines and the ball cleared off the goal line.

Both sides exchanged shots at goal with Page-Smith twice firing wide and Becs Lowe narrowly failing to connect with Charley Evans cross before Lucy Casey opened the scoring seven minutes from half time when she got behind Faye Ward to shot from a tight angle and beat Haines at her far post.

Woodley responded well but Maidenhead finished the half the stronger, shooting over in the forty fifth minute and then in stoppage time evading an off side to fire wide with only Haines to beat.

The opening five minutes of the second half were end to end with Haines saving from Natalie Barnes and Casey and Page-Smith going wide from Tat Master’s cross. However, the Woodley forward levelled the scores in the fiftieth minute when she turned a defender to fire past Parker from twenty yards to the delight of the large crowd.

The goal lifted Woodley who took the game to Maidenhead. Mollie Haines fired at Barnes from a Lowes cross while Maddie Sawyer saw an effort cleared. It was not until the last ten minutes that Haines was tested in the Woodley goal. She comfortably saved a Summers’ free kick and parried a shot that Surtees cleared.

With the game entering stoppage time Casey fired wide before Woodley’s Holly Wilkins was flagged off side from a Page-Smith pass with only Parker to beat. As the match entered the second minute of stoppage time, Tina Brett was thought to have fouled Surtees but play continued with Haines saving Brett’s first shot but unable to prevent the forward from converting the follow up to give Maidenhead the win.

N Haines, Evans, Wilkins, Master, Surtees, Cook, M Haines, Ward, Page-Smith, Sawyer, Lowes Subs not used: Pearson and Edwards