Caversham AFC 3 - 2 Winnersh Rangers

Caversham AFC put in one of their best performances to date to secure 3 points against high flying Winnersh Rangers at a boggy Clayfield Copse. Caversham adapted to the difficult playing conditions more quickly and put Winnersh under early pressure as Grace dominated the key central midfield position. Daisy delivered an early corner perfectly to Evie, who took a touch and then hammered the ball past the Winnersh keeper to take the lead. Winnersh are a strong, well organised team with some of the best finishers in the league, but with Izzy and Lianna putting in stella performances, Winnersh were limited to half chances that Serena was comfortably able to deal with, However, as the first half wore on Winnersh applied more and more pressure and when they hit the bar, the warning signs were there. As the first half drew to a close, Martha, who had marshalled the defensive line superbly with a fully committed display brought down the Winnersh striker. When the advantage didn't result in a goal, the referee brought the play back for a penalty. Serena guessed the right way on the re-take and almost pulled off an amazing save, but the power of the shot was too much and game was levelled going into half time. Winnersh started the second half strongly playing down the hill and with Caversham slower to respond Winnersh took the lead with a deflected shot that wrong footed Serena. With some re-organisation, Caversham once again found the intensity of play that had seen them dominate the early part of the game and with Daisy, Ruby, Evie, Issy and Grace all attacking from different positions it looked like Caversham would find the equaliser. Some good passing between Daisy, Ruby and Grace saw player of the match Ruby thread a ball though to Evie who took the chance for her second. A few minutes later, Evie picked up a loose ball and used her pace to beat the defence and still with plenty to do, managed to slot the ball past the encroaching keeper with the outside of her foot for a superb finish. With Anna, Saffron, Niamh, Matha, Lianna and Leah doing a superb job on the Winnersh players as they rotated the defence, their chances of bringing the game back were limited. As the heavy ground took it's toll, Caversham looked the more likely to score and when the Evie found Daisy unmarked, only a superb save from the Winnersh keeper prevented her from putting the game to bed. Serena capped an all round superb team performance with an agile double goal line save at the end as the referee waved away appeals from players and supporters of Winnersh that that ball had crossed the line. Arguably it would have given Winnersh a deserved draw, but it on balance Caversham probably deserved all three points.