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Friday, September 12, 2025

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Cup joy for Farnborough

Farnborough 2 Brackley Town 0

Farnborough achieved a first ever Adobe Women's FA Cup victory with a 2-0 home win over Brackley Town in front of 177 spectators at the Saunders Transport Community Stadium.

This was an intriguing First Qualifying Round tie which paired the standout clubs from their respective counties last season, Farnborough as Hampshire County League champions and Brackley as Northamptonshire County League champions. Both clubs had also tasted Cup success in 2024-25 and were eager for success in a national competition.

 

Farnborough had yet to play a competitive match and were reliant on good defence early on with the visitors looking sharp and moving the ball fluently. As play settled there was unsurprisingly little to choose between the teams and few clear cut openings. Brackley were denied the opening goal by an excellent block from Danielle Jones on the six yard line as Emily Horring looked to turn home a loose ball.

 

Brackley had a goal disallowed for offside on 38 minutes but the hosts looked more dangerous as half time approached. Lily Stride was showing some fine touches in midfield and Ellie Stalley was always on the move looking for the chance to shoot from any angle.

 

It took just four minutes for the deadlock to be broken and it was last season's top scorer Stalley who was played in beyond the last defender to finish crisply past the advancing Robin Tillyer for the hosts’ first FA Women's Cup goal. Remarkably, Stalley repeated the trick just four minutes later,  again outpacing the defence slightly to the right of goal before striking another impressive finish from 12 yards across the diving Tillyer.

 

Changes were made with new players debuting on both sides. Farnborough were nearly pegged back when a loose clearance gave sub Issy Flack a clear sight of goal but home keeper Beth Bye was well positioned to save on 78 minutes. Stalley was denied a hat-trick by a fine Tillyer save leaping to her right and Farnborough, with new winger Poppy Hawken looking lively on the right, created the better chances as the match entered the final ten minutes. The hosts saw out the game with relative ease but it had been a hard fought match of good quality.

 

Farnborough deserved to progress as they grew into the contest and they had the boost of Stalley's double strike soon after the restart. Their reward is another home tie, this time against Southern Region Premier side Oxford City in the Second Qualifying Round.

Farnborough: Beth Bye, Leighann May, Esme Parsons, Ellie Stalley, Bryony Gibbs, Izzy Woodger, Kelly Rutledge, Laura Quinn-Low, Danielle Jones, Jodie McCoy, Lily Stride. Subs: Morgan Palmer, Ana Pitts, Katie Taylor, Jordan Thompson, Poppy Hawken.

Brackley Town: Robyn Tillyer, Michelle Matthews, Kailey Hardy, Hollie Springate, Lydia Avann, Kerry Fenables, Lucy Hopper-Hall, Megan Gratton, Emily Horring, Amelia Parker, Nanda Carvalho. Subs: Chloe Pinnock, Georgia Howell, Tia Lee, Issy Flack, Ruby Thompson, Abby Adams.