 The Prize This Thursday BotP took the trip South to Whitchurch United's Longmeadow Stadium for the North Hants Divisional Football Association (NHDFA) Sunday Women's Cup Final. A competition that is fast becoming a bit of a go to for me. I was at the 2023/24 final when Fleet Town defeated Andover New Street, then a Hampshire County League Division Two side, 2-1 (Fleet Usher In First NHDFA Cup Win). I was also at one of this season's semi-finals as Winchester progressed to final by beating New Street on their own patch (New Street Knocked Out By Haymaker). ON the back of that win, Winchester were to take on Division One North side, Farnborough, in this evening's final, after Farnborough put out Aldershot Town in the semi. Despite being one league apart, the teams had already met this season, in the League Cup back in November. Chelsie Hay gave Flyers an early lead that day. However, Ellie Stalley in her last game for the club, levelled the scores just past the hour. Sian Wylie scored what turned out to be the winner on 83 minutes before, a minute later, Winchester's Shayne Prasad picked up a second yellow. Speaking of Shayne Prasad. As I entered the stadium, the first sight I had was of a distraught looking player leaving the warm-ups after clearly feeling an injury. That caused a last minute change for Flyers, with Emily Wernham stepping into the starting XI, and the unfortunate Prasad missing out completely. Many thanks to the match officials for giving me the opportunity to get a photo of the team sheets just prior to kick-off.  Huddles Winchester had the slope in their favour for the first half and, after a first few minutes of sparring, began to use that to their advantage. Their first major opportunity came in the 11th minute when Emily McDonough was sent clear. However, Beth Bye was very quick off her line to make an excellent and brave block at the feet of the winger. Two minutes later, however, there was nothing that Bye could do as Charlie Snelling's through ball sent Winchester top scorer Chelsie Hay on her way. With ten goals in her last two games, the Flyers hot-shot was not going to miss the opportunity, firing the ball low past the keeper into the far corner. 1-0 City continued to press Farnborough back and, just before the midway point, Hay had the ball in the net again, but the whistle had gone for an offside flag. Despite their continued effort, Farnborough were finding it difficult to prevent Winchester from dominating the game. When Borough got the ball, they were unable to keep it for long, as City closed them down and forced stary passes at every opportunity. Eventually, the pressure from Winchester told again. After a delay for an injury to a Farnborough player, Emma Whitlock swung in a corner from the left. It dropped into a bunch of players, but first to react was Chelsie Hay, who tapped the ball home from two yards out. 2-0. I initially thought this was an own goal. However, it was credited to Hay and, if you watch the video captured by The Terrace Traveller (@TerraceTrav) you'll see that it was definitely a clever little flick from Hay that put the ball away. Farnborough had no time to recover from going two down. A minute after the restart Hay picked the ball up some 30-plus yards out on the right. Seeing Bye off her line, she sent a perfect long-range lob over the stranded keeper. 3-0. That made it thirteen goals in less than 2 and a half games for the Winchester striker. Three up and cruising, Winchester were looking to completely kill the game off before half-time. Charlie Snelling had a golden opportunity to make it four, but put her shot over the bar. Then Laura Vokes saw her near-post corner come back off the woodwork. However, there were still signs that Farnborough were not yet beaten. With six minutes to go before the break, Laura Quinn-Low was millimetres from getting a toe to a looped cross into the Winchester box. At the other end, Beth Bye was down well to save from Emily Wernham's snapshot. Then, with a minute left on the clock, Farnborough did get a goal back. Quinn-Low did well on the right, sending a ball into the feet of Eliza Andrews. She turned and got off a shot which took a deflection off Sharna Capel-Watson on its way into the net. 3-1 HT Winchester City Flyers 3 Farnborough 1. A tough half for Farnborough, who had to work extremely hard just to stay in the game. However, as a neutral, it was pleasing to see them grab a goal back just before the break, and give them a lift for the second half.  Flyers attacking from a corner Maybe it was the late goal. Maybe it was the psychological advantage of playing down the slope. Maybe just a resolve to give it a bit of a go. Whatever the case, Farnborough seemed to have a renewed vigour when the second half got under way. They had Winchester on the back foot early in the half. So much so that Lily Dalton, who only came on at half-time, was forced into last ditch tackle in the area, that saw her, unfortunately, leave the field with an injury only seven minutes after coming on. Farnborough's early efforts could have forced some teams to sit back and defend their two goal lead. However, the Premier League outfit were having none of that. Just past the hour they broke forward. The ball was slipped into Charlie Snelling just outside the box. Some very nifty footwork created an opening and she finished with a perfectly placed low effort into the bottom left-hand corner of Bye's goal. 4-1. That took the wind out of Farnborough sails and, a few minutes later, Annie Northwood latched onto Hay's quick throw-in, but her radar was slightly off and she put the ball into the side-netting. Both sides were making a few changes but when Farnborough brought on Poppy Hawkin, who had scored the decisive goal at Slough last Sunday, there was suddenly more noise from the Farnborough following, of which there were quite a few. Hawkin's introduction certainly added more life to Farnborough but it was Winchester who generated the next big opportunity when Hay was played in again on 75 minutes. As Bye came out the striker sent a lob over her from 20 yards this time, but her aim was slightly off and the ball went of the mark. Five minutes later, Farnborough had another goal back when Poppy Hawkin was sent clear of the City defence before arrowing her finish past Parker. 4-2 With only ten minutes plus added time to go, the two-goal margin was still fairly comfortable for Winchester. However, aside from one more Hay strike that went wide, they found themselves being pushed back by Farnborough who, to their immense credit, had their higher-ranked opponents looking forward to the final whistle. Winchester were by no means hanging on, but I am sure they didn't find the final 5-10 minutes too comfortable. FT Winchester City Flyers 4 Farnborough 2. Congratulations to Flyers, who retain the NHDFA Cup trophy. They were the better team over the 90 minutes, but great credit must go to Farnborough too. They were under the cosh for much of the first half, but rallied to put on a very good show in the second half. They had a very good and confident Winchester team, penned back at times. Flyers have a very short window to enjoy their victory. On Sunday they have the not-so-small task of taking on league-leaders Wycombe Wanderers in the League Cup semi-final at The Charters Community Stadium. Meanwhile, Farnborough have a home league date with second placed Larkspur Rovers. Winchester City Flyers: 1.Parker, 3.Vokes, 6.Warhurst, 5.Moulding, 2.Capel-Watson, 12.Hughes, 15.Whitlock(c), 4.Snelling, 8.Hay, 10.Wernham, 20.McDonough. Subs: 9.Northwood, 17.Powell-Rowland, 19.Dalton, 16.Byway Farnborough: 19.Bye, 2.May(c), 7.Margilewska, 8.Quinn-Low, 9.Parsons, 10.Andrews, 14.Woodger, 15.Jones, 16.Rutledge, 20.Way, 26.Hurwood. Subs: 3.Gibbs, 5.McCoy, 12.Hawkin, 17.O'Donnell, 21.Stride  Floodlight trails
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