Caversham AFC 3 - 0 Shinfield Rangers

Caversham AFC reached their first BCGFL Cup final with a win over Shinfield Rangers at Highdown School. A fast improving Shinfield made Caversham work extremely hard for the victory in a game that was difficult to manage both on and off the pitch. With all players available, the decision not to rest players for the game made it hard to organise the substitutions fairly in a game that at times Caversham struggled to control. Caversham started strongly and should have taken their chances to secure an early lead. As Shinfield composed themselves, their pace and passing caused big problems for the Caversham defence, although standout performances from player of the match Liana and Martha prevented many real clear cut chances. Having ridden their luck it was Caversham that took the lead from a well struck shot from Grace, who dominated the central midfield from start to finish in what was by far her best game for the team to date. It was her first goal and her delight was obvious in the celebration. With Olivia and Saffron also putting in excellent defensive performances Caversham reached half time with their 1-0 advantage intact. With Caversham's strike force of Tia, Evie and Daisy all having an off-day, it was left to the midfield to win the game. Izzy had a good game, but couldn't find the vital touch in a goal mouth scramble and when Evie hit the post from a Daisy turn and pass, the nervousness began to creep in. Daisy had a great chance to take Caversham further ahead following a brilliant run and pass from Martha, but her shot flew over the bar. Anna came on and brought much needed intensity and when Grace found herself on the edge of the box she unleashed a shot that caught the keeper off-guard to make it 2-0. However, it was not game over as Shinfield looked to get back into the game. Having brought back a two goal deficit twice earlier in the season, Caversham's nervousness was genuine. Serena capped a great performance with some outstanding and brave goal keeping. The goal of the game came from Ruby, her first for two years. It capped her best performance for Caversham as she ran the Shinfield midfield ragged from start to finish. 3-0 was probably generous in the end, but it was the faultless defending of Leah, Olivia, Martha, Lianna, Serena and Niamh along with a stellar performance from Serena that secured a clean sheet bonus and ultimately a place in Thatcham on finals day.