Reading Women 5-0 Woodley United Ladies: Match Report

Team: Sophie Butler (GK), Bethan Poole, Sarah Thompson, Keziah Banduka (Lara Moore, 67’), Jazz King (Chloe Prangley, 67’), Mia Parker (captain), Ellie Szekeres, Poppy Whitburn (Ellie Manners, 56’), Keren Banduka, Ava Broke-Smith (Nat Cowell, 56’), Tia Johnson (Lucy Bolitho, 56’)

Reading goalscorers: Tia Johnson, 12’, 24’, 34’; Keren Banduka, 30’; Mia Parker, 46’ (pen)

Woodley United goalscorers: None

Reading yellow cards: None

Woodley United yellow cards: Jo Novak-Allum (GK), 24’; Gerry Kehayova, 46’; defender, 82’

Reading red cards: None

Woodley United red cards: None

First half

Reading manager Ed Jackson-Norris once again set the team up in an attacking 3-5-2 formation, with Broke-Smith and Johnson leading the attack, supported by the busy midfield trio of King, Szekeres and Parker, with options on the flanks from Whitburn and Keren Banduka.

If Woodley thought they would be in for a tough match, the opening 10 minutes only confirmed this. The Royals started strongly, winning four corners. Keziah Banduka headed just over from one set-piece and United’s goalkeeper Jo Nowak-Allum was forced into two early saves, from Broke-Smith and Johnson.

The pressure paid off when, in the 12th minute, Keziah Banduka’s pass from defence found Broke-Smith, who unselfishly slid the ball to Johnson, her shot going through the legs of the outrushing goalkeeper to open the scoring. 1-0.

From the restart it was more of the same one-way traffic, with a salvo of Reading shots either fired wide of the Woodley goal or saved by the busy Nowak-Allum.

With just over 20 minutes on the clock, and with the scoreline somehow unchanged, Reading earned the chance to double their lead when Keren Banduka was fouled by Nowak-Allum as she burst into the Woodley box to latch onto a delightful pass from Szekeres. Johnson stepped up to take the penalty and grabbed her second goal of the afternoon, at the second attempt, after her set-piece was initially saved by the goalkeeper. 2-0.

10 minutes later, Keren Banduka capitalised on some intricate passing from Szekeres and Johnson on the edge of the penalty area, curling her shot into the far corner of the goal. 3-0.

With Woodley on the ropes, Reading piled the pressure on and forced a defensive error. While the visitors were trying to play out of defence, Johnson pounced on the mistake and smashed the ball into the net for her hat-trick (in a superb 22 minutes for the Reading striker). 4-0.

But for the heroics of Nowak-Allum in the United goal – pulling off a couple of fantastic saves late on from Johnson and Broke-Smith – and the post coming to the rescue of what looked like a sublime goal for Szekeres, the scoreline could have looked even worse for the visitors at half-time.

Half-time: 4-0

The visitors must have feared the worst when, from the restart, Reading’s relentless pressure continued from where the first half left off.

Reading midfielder Parker burst through the midfield to force an early save before, just seconds later, Broke-Smith’s similar run was felled inside the box for another Royals penalty. This time it was the turn of the Reading captain, with Parker coolly slotting the ball into the left-hand corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance at all. 5-0.

With the hour mark approaching, Jackson-Norris made his first three changes. Off came the strike force of Johnson, Broke-Smith and Whitburn (to the rapturous applause of the Reading fans), with Cowell and Bolitho going up top and Manners playing wide on the right, in like-for-like swaps.

Reading continued to create chances. Keren Banduka hit the side netting from a tight angle and King continued to fire in corners, with Keziah Banduka just unable to connect at the back post.

The defensive trio of Poole, Keziah Banduka and Thompson continued to control and command the back line all match, leaving little – if anything really – for goalkeeper Butler to do.

One of the privileges of watching this Reading team has been a manager who not only has the confidence to use all his options on the bench, but also to look to develop young players and new talents, giving them valuable match time and experience.

Yesterday was no exception, with Jackson-Norris introducing two more of the under-16s pathway players of Lara Moore and Chloe Prangley for their league debuts (Prangley had previously made a substitute’s appearance against Kidlington Youth, in the League Cup) – with still a quarter of the match to go.

In front of a big crowd, both players were unphased, composed and slotted in seamlessly, Moore having replaced Keziah Banduka in defence and Prangley being swapped into midfield, for King.

Cowell, Bolitho and Manners added new energy but just couldn’t find that clinical finish to extend the lead.

With King off the pitch, it was Poole who took over corner-taking responsibilities and delivered set-pieces nine through 15, with Thompson coming close via a couple of good headers and forcing a fine save, once again, from Novak-Allum.

The Woodley United manager also looked to use his substitutes and it was nice to see Caitlin Levy introduced. The ex-Reading player was an important part of Pedro Bruno’s squad last season.

In a one-sided match, it took the visitors until the 79th minute to get their first shot on target. Substitute Hannah Dawes shot straight at Butler and, shortly after, Woodley won their first corner, which came to nothing.

Reading striker Cowell missed the opportunity to add to the scoreline when, eight minutes from time, Keren Banduka ran into the penalty area, only to be fouled again, to win her second – and Reading’s third – penalty of the match. Cowell’s spot-kick was saved by the goalkeeper and cleared to safety.

Full-time: 5-0

For the Royals, the fans’ ‘player of the match’ was (rightly so) awarded to hat-trick hero Johnson. For the visitors, I’m sure any award would have gone to their goalkeeper, Nowak-Allum, who was the difference between the actual final scoreline and a possible double-digit outcome.

Reading are back at Arbour Park next weekend (Sunday April 26, 2pm kick-off), with Fleet Town the visitors, in another first meeting of the season. And after today, why wouldn’t you want to come back?

See you there!

Other league results

• AFC Portchester 3-0 Wycombe Wanderers
• Badshot Lea 0-6 Oxford City
• Fleet Town 3-2 Beaconsfield Town
• Sholing 2-6 Winchester City Flyers

League standings

1. Wycombe Wanderers: 45 points from 20 matches
2. Winchester City Flyers: 40 points from 18 matches
3. Southampton Women: 33 points from 18 matches
4. AFC Porchester: 31 points from 15 matches
5. Reading FC: 30 points from 16 matches
6. Beaconsfield Town: 29 points from 19 matches
7. Oxford City: 22 points from 16 matches
8. Fleet Town: 19 points from 16 matches
9. Sholing: 12 points from 17 matches
10. Woodley United: 7 points from 17 matches
11. Badshot Lea: 4 points from 18 matches