Caversham knocked out of County Cup

Caversham got a tough draw in round 1 of The County Cup as they came up against Tilehurst Panthers A team. However, in an end to end game Caversham could have caused the upset as they dealt well with the pressure from Tilehurst and were unlucky not to find a late equaliser after going behind early in the game. Caversham's makeshift defence had a shaky start when they failed to deal with a goal mouth scramble that saw the ball bundled over the line to give Tilehurst an early lead. Tilehurst had the best of the first half, but solid and committed performances from Olivia, Maud, Anna, Leah and Niamh in defence meant that despite the Tilehurst pressure there was very little real threat for player of the match Serena to deal with in goal. In a first half that saw Caversham pegged back, it was hard going for Grace, Izzy, Lianna and Ruby in midfield while Daisy and Evie were having to work hard to try and counter attack with limited service as they missed the creative influence of an injured Josie.

With the score still 1-0 at halftime Caversham took to the field very much still in the game and as the second half developed it became much more open as Caversham sought to find the equaliser. The defence put in their best performance to date to neutralise the Tilehurst danger players and Serena was on hand to make some fantastic saves when Tilehurst did on occasion open up the defence. Meanwhile, with Ruby moving into central midfield, she and Grace began to own the middle third and chances were being created. As Caversham pressed the well organised Tilehurst defence the pressure began to tell. A poor goal kick landed with Daisy on the edge of the box, but she fired her shot wide. Evie began to get the better of the defence, but also put her best chance wide after running clear. With time running out Caversham forced a corner and with the defenders pushing up, Daisy landed a perfect corner onto the head of Maud whose glancing header looked to have found the bottom corner to take the tie into penalties, but it went agonisingly wide of the post. At the final whistle Tilehust looked relived to be in the draw for round 2, but Caversham can take a lot of pride in playing well in a very exciting cup tie.