Anyone working in agriculture could (probably alone) appreciate the pitch conditions today, but we were all very glad that it was at least playable and the game went ahead with so many other games being postponed. That said, it was not a day for delicate tip-tap football and nice passing along the ground, but kicking off 25 minutes late,  it took a while for both teams to adapt their play to the very bobbly surface.
The opening pressure was mostly from the Panthers and the first goal came from Alexia’s corner which landed right in front of the near post bounced towards goal between a defender and the GK, hit the underside of the bar and went in! 1-0

Our girls continued to push forward and the second goal came 6mins later when Florence directed a shot from the right towards goal and the attempted clearance from a Reading defender went into the goal instead 2-0

The girls looked well on top, but the positive start to the game seemed to provoke a visible drop in the intensity of their play, a little too much “after you” football and getting too comfortable let Reading back into the game before half time with a lobbed shot that looped into the net from range.

At HT it was 2-1 to the Panthers and the team talk involved playing a little less of the pretty passing stuff in the final third and to take more shots on goal when the chances arose.

The second half started with the Panthers full of energy again, Jueun broke through the defensive line and let fly with a shot from the edge of the area which cannoned upwards off the bar and fell to Florence charging in, beating the keeper to the ball and applying the final touch to send it into the net 3-1 .

This looked promising, Reading were once more on the ropes, but the comfort of a 2 goal cushion seemed to flick that energy switch again as the intensity of the Panthers play began to slump for the second time in the game. Two quick fire goals from Reading brought them level at 3-3 and the tension amongst the spectators started to escalate. There followed a very nervous 20mins of play with both teams creating chances and producing some last ditch defending.

With 10 minutes to go, it was anyone’s game. So when Jueun converted from Alexia’s corner to make it 4-3, no chickens were being counted by anyone, and this turned out to be justified because Reading, continuing to fight back, then made it 4-4.

Into the last 3 minutes and after a game characterised by some scrambling goals, there came a score of genuine quality - Alexia made herself space just outside the area and then fired the ball high over the keeper and into the net 5-4.

The sensible move here was to play out the remaining 3mins with low risk football, this didn’t win any popularity contests with the Reading fans, but it ensured 3 points for Wargrave in a very tricky game. Respect to Reading for relentlessly fighting back every time they went behind, and congratulations to our girls for responding in kind and bringing home the win.

Florence was our player of the match today, she never gave up and ran down everything, this brought rewards for her and the team today - all of our players should be encouraged to follow her fine example.