Battling win secures Iron progress

Royston Town Ladies 1-2 Braintree Town Ladies
The FA Women's Cup sponsored by E.ON
First Round Qualifying
2pm, Sunday 27 September 2009
Wining clubs will receive £100 from The FA prize fund

Braintree Town Ladies avoided an FA Women's Cup upset, but made hard work of defeating a resilient Royston Town side. In the end they were thankful to goals from two youngsters making their debuts in the competition.

Speaking after the 2-1 win Iron manager, David Streetley, said he was pleased to progress.

He said: “Royston made it very difficult for us today, and whilst we were guilty of giving the ball away at times, in Cup competitions it’s all about results rather than performances.

"We’ve caused a number of Cup upsets in the last four seasons and the players were determined that we didn’t want to be on the end of one today. Even at this early stage there is something special about The FA Women's Cup and it’s nice to get through to the next round."

The home side enjoyed the better of the first quarter of an hour without creating a clear-cut chance and it was against the run of play that Braintree went ahead. Clever play from the experienced Paula Drane saw her deliver an inch-perfect ball for 16-year-old Helena Golding to run on to and she confidently rounded the ‘keeper before walking the ball into the net.

The lead lasted a matter of minutes though, with Braintree guilty of giving away a soft free-kick on the edge of the box, and from 20-yards out, Emma Chaffey drilled an effort around the wall to draw the sides level.

Almost straight from the restart the Essex side regained the lead. Drane was again the creator as she played in Ella Tooley who drew the advancing 'keeper before sliding the ball across the six yard box for youngster Laura Hill to convert under pressure.

With their noses in front again the Iron took control of the first-half and could have been further ahead with Tooley, Lynsey Bowman and Zoë Rushen all going close, while in defence, the Braintree back three looked capable of withstanding the home sides’ best efforts.

In the warm sunshine the second half never lived up to the first as both sides were guilty of giving the ball away cheaply, but Braintree had to be thankful to another Cup debutant, Jodie Osborne, who reacted quickest to deny Royston’s Wendy Webster with a perfectly timed sliding block as Webster looked certain to grab a late equaliser.

Streetley was already looking forward to the draw for the next round, saying:

“We know whoever we get it’s going to be tough game, but for the young squad we have playing in The FA Women's Cup is great experience. We know the chances of us winning the cup in May are slim, but we’ll take it one game at a time and enjoy the opportunity of playing in such a prestigious tournament."