Brackley Town Ladies 2-3 Reading Women: Match Report

Pete’s take on a first win of the season for the Royals, which came in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

The Royals are through to the next round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup after beating Brackley Town Ladies 3-2 at St James Park on Sunday, with goals from Mia Bradley, Zuzanna Gajzler and Lily Brooke-Cousins.

It was a close but hard-fought and well-earned result, from the team in blue and white - which required every ounce of effort, from every Reading player - to secure their first victory of the season, against a home side that never gave up.

They were up against a Brackley Town Ladies team in good form - winning 3-1 at Wallingford & Crowmarsh in the opening qualifying round. They were also unbeaten in the Northamptonshire Women’s and Girl’s Football League (tier seven), having scored 18 goals and conceded none in their opening two matches of the season.

Although the FA data currently shows 20 registered players in the squad, injuries and illness meant Reading manager Pedro Bruno once again found himself with limited options, again with only 12 players available. Mia Donovan (the goalkeeper who has started the opening two league fixtures) was the only substitute named.

With three players missing from last weekend’s defeat to Oxford City, there were, fortunately, some new faces included within the starting line-up: Cherry Preisner (goalkeeper), alongside Freya Morgan and Ellie Herbert, all made their debuts.

Team: Cherry Preisner (GK), Lauren Drewett, Lily Brooke-Cousins, Ellie Herbert, Tia Lee, Mia Bradley, Rosie Robinson, Caitlin Levy, Jordanne Hoesli-Atkins (Captain), Freya Morgan, Zuzanna Gajzler

Substitute: Mia Donovan (GK)

Although Brackley Town enjoyed the opening shot of the match (comfortably saved by the debutant Reading goalkeeper Preisner), it was Reading who dominated the opening 15 minutes with some good pressure, earning three corners and scoring for the first time this season.

After just six minutes, Reading’s impressive right-winger Mia Bradley outpaced the Brackley Town defence to finish coolly past goalkeeper Robyn Tillyer, placing the ball into the far corner. 0-1.

The Royals’ young goalkeeper also started the match confidently with a great near-post save, closing down the angle after Brackley Town’s Jordan Heron broke free and found space to fire off a shot, cutting in from the right wing.

At the midpoint of the first half, the match resembled a basketball game with three goals within a topsy-turvy five minutes.

First the home side levelled when Elle Georgiou scored at the near post, neatly tucking away a cross from Heron on the right wing. 1-1.

The Royals bounced back just three minutes later, Zuzzana Gajzler reacting the quickest to finish from close range after Mia Bradley’s rocket of a shot from wide on the right wing rebounded off the back post. 1-2.

Within two minutes of the restart the home side were level again when Heron and Georgiou combined for the second time - after the Reading defence misjudged a long pass over the top - with the Town striker scoring her second of the afternoon. 2-2.

Half-time: 2-2

With limited options open to Reading manager Bruno, the second half started with a surprise change to the formation: substitute Mia Donovan (Reading’s goalkeeper for the opening two league matches of the season) lined up as centre-forward (replacing Caitlin Levy) and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions during the second half - the best effort fired just over the crossbar.

With no remaining substitutions, the Royals battled hard throughout the remaining 45 minutes and, generally, looked in control for the majority of the period.

The Royals’ winner came on the hour mark and was a goal worthy of winning a FA Cup tie (along with an equally worthy tongue-in-cheek goal celebration too!). The long-range, right-foot strike from Lily Brooke-Cousins flew into the top corner, giving the Brackley Town goalkeeper no chance. 2-3.

With time running out, the home side never gave up and came close to an equaliser, forcing another athletic save from Preisner and a last-gasp goal-line clearance, when Georgiou must have thought she had scored her hat-trick.

Reading hung on, deservedly so, and it was a real delight to see the jubilant players come over to the sidelines, smiles beaming, to greet their families, friends and fans.

Full-time: 2-3

It’s a really young team, learning all the time and often finding themselves playing against some street-wise and experienced women. It was also the first time the girls have played on grass this season (the previous matches - including one at their new home at Arbour Park, Slough - being all-weather artificial pitches).

The only disappointment was that there weren’t more Reading fans there to witness it. This FA Cup match report might even have come as a surprise to some fans, after the club failed to send any communication, announcements or social media updates about this match all week (and the FA website showed the match as a 2pm kick-off!).

I’m conscious that events this week may have distracted thoughts somewhat, but even my good friends at STAR failed, at their first attempt, to increase awareness of this match and help with the Women’s rebuilding, reawakening and comeback journey.

Luckily, Brackley Town Ladies were quite excited by this prospect, with details of when, where and what time (4pm) the kick-off would be - shared many times on social media throughout the week.

While I’m on a roll, it wasn’t until after Nigel Howe’s disastrous media update last week that I realised it was another missed opportunity to ask him about why the complexities (of the now-failed takeover bid) meant the Women’s team were sacrificed and why a third-party consortium was not permitted to progress a breakaway option to provide funding to keep the team in the Championship.

Anyway, to end on a positive note, the Women’s team are still looking to strengthen the squad further - with trial sessions still available for any players who “have a background in academy football and experience through the pyramid” (applications by Friday September 27).

Next weekend, Sunday September 29, we’re back to league action, at home (Arbour Park, Slough), with a 2pm kick-off against local rivals Woodley United. See you there.