Our Women’s Under-19s completed the FA Women’s National League Cup group phase with a 3-1 victory over MK Dons at Stadium MK on Sunday afternoon.
Having suffered defeats to Luton Town and Oxford United in our previous two group games, a victory was needed against the Dons to give our youngsters any chance of progressing to the FAWNL Plate as one of the 20 best third-place sides and, after another penalty save from Erin Radbourne just before the half hour mark, we surged into the lead with two goals in three minutes ahead of the break.
Returning to the starting XI, Cruz Fuller-Fagan headed home the opening goal after an excellent assist from Rania Oukriss before the latter was involved in the second goal as she forced an own-goal to double our advantage with four minutes left on the clock in the first period, putting us in control of proceedings of the contest.
The Dons, who compete in tier four of Women’s football pyramid, searched for a way back into the game and while we weathered the storm for large spells of the second half, the hosts managed to pull a goal back through Molly Lemon on 85 minutes. However, just a minute later, we reinstated our two-goal advantage with a wonderful finish from Mia Endacott – her first goal of the season – to ensure the victory and secure our spot in the FAWNL Plate.
More details to follow…