Report

QK went into this final tie very much the underdogs against a team that play two levels higher in the South West Combination League, but on the night the girls ran Saints very close having been edged out by the odd goal in three.

Southampton Saints got off the blocks quickly and forced QK to defend but Carly Burt made two early saves.  Most of the Saints raids came down the QK left where Krystal Whyte was using her pace and getting in some dangerous crosses.  Saints went ahead in the 17^th minute when a rather innocuous shot by Kirsty Garner went through Burt which was disappointing from a QK point of view.  The girls were undeterred though and, with adjustments made to the formation that worked well to quell the Saints supply line on the right-hand side, the team set about the task of getting back into the match.  QK had a good spell and took the game to their opponents with Emma Hammerton testing Saints keeper Hannah Haughton and Natasha Drake shooting narrowly wide from a cross by Vanessa Mar-Molinero.  The Saints threat was still evident though as hesitation in the QK defence produced a shot for Catherine Browning whose angled effort hit the far post and, fortunately for the QK girls, there was no one on hand to follow the ball home.  On a QK attack, Rachael Cardy’s route to goal was blocked, but the ball ran loose to Kelly Newcombe whose shot was saved by Haughton.  QK levelled on 39 minutes when a pass into the Saints box was fumbled by Haughton and Rachael Cardy seized the chance to get past a defender and fire into the empty Saints net.  Half-time: 1-1.

The second half became a bit of a battle for QK and they did well to keep the Saints at bay.  However, Saints did re-take the lead on 61 minutes when Whyte crossed from the right and Gemma Simmonds headed off the bar and as the ball came back down she reacted quickly to nod it over the line.  QK tried hard to get back into it and Newcombe just failed to get a connection to a Hammerton cross at the far post.  With the game in the latter stages, Burt saved well to deny Whyte to still keep QK in it.  Time eventually ran out for QK but the girls put up a fine show and could feel as though they made a very good contribution to an entertaining match.  That said, the Saints girls, perhaps fitting of their higher status, were just that little bit sharper on the day and deserved their victory.

Rachael Cardy, who worked tirelessly in attack, was awarded with the player-of-the-match bubbly and it was clear at the presentation ceremony that although they were defeated the girls enjoyed the cup final experience.  There is still much for QK to look forward to as the girls can now get back to the job of obtaining promotion from the Hampshire League Division 1 in their remaining games.