Oxford's
FA Women's Cup dream continued today in incredible fashion as the
ladies dumped Women's Premier League side Newcastle out of the cup in
their first ever fourth round tie at the Kassam, in front of a crowd
of more than 700. After knocking out Charlton Athletic away from home
in the previous round they proved that it was no fluke with a
deserved victory over higher league opposition yet again.
The
yellows, who were clearly up for the occasion, dominated the opening
exchanges and took an early lead when Natasha Caswell's inch-perfect
through ball found Katie Stanley who coolly knocked the ball over the
advancing goalkeeper. And they doubled it soon after when Caswell
struck a speculative shot from the edge of the area which squirmed
under Newcastle goalkeeper Laura Wareham.
It
was a powerful start from Oxford who blitzed the opposition during
the opening 25 minutes, with the ball rarely leaving the Newcastle
half. The lightning-quick Isi Meade excelled in her wing-back
position, causing her opposite number no end of trouble (she reminded
me of a left-sided Damian Batt), and Tash Caswell was pulling the
strings in the middle of the park with a number of probing balls for
the Oxford strikers to chase.
Newcastle
did come into the game slightly midway through the half and there was
a hearts-in-mouths moment when a corner caused chaos in the Oxford
box with the ball bouncing off the inside of the post before being
cleared in the ensuing goalmouth scramble.
But
Oxford again reasserted their grip on the game as top-scorer Lauren
Allison caused problems for the Newcastle defence and the side poured
forward looking for a third. That goal unfortunately never came but
the ladies left the field to a standing ovation after a first half in
which they had thoroughly outplayed their higher league opposition.
Most impressively, they proved that neat passing football can be
played on the bog at the Kassam Stadium.
Newcastle,
as might be expected, came back into the match in the second half.
They pulled a goal back early on when Oxford failed to deal with a
free kick into the box and Jess Havelock was on hand to tap in from
the rebound. This is usually the part where the plucky underdog
crumbles under the pressure as the higher league side begin to pile
on the pressure but Oxford maintained their composure admirably and
continued to play their game, marshalled by the impressive captain
Sahara Osborne-Ricketts.
There
were still a few nervous moments to come and Newcastle certainly saw
more of the ball than they had in the first 45, but the better
chances again fell the way of the hosts. Another superb through ball
from Caswell set Allison free but she somehow managed to scoop the
ball over the bar when one-on-one with the keeper.
Oxford
hit the bar twice and Caswell went close numerous times in the
closing stages, which would have added extra gloss to the result and
arguably would have better reflected the balance of play. Although it
felt as though the match was dragging on forever it rarely felt as if
United's lead was in any real danger and they saw the game out
comfortably, sparking wild celebrations on the pitch.
The
result means that Oxford – the lowest-ranked side in the
competition by quite a stretch – are among the final 16, with the
chance to play a professional Women's Super League side in the fifth
round. The draw is made at one o'clock on Monday afternoon.
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