First Half:
Once the referee blew the whistle to begin the first half, the Hawks looked to make an early positive impression up against the Winchester City Flyers with their attacking play. In the second minute of the match Millie McNamara opened the defence up playing a through ball into the feet of Emily Wernham where she found herself one on one with the keeper attempting to shoot the ball through the legs of Shannon White but was kept out. The visitors soon became uneasy with the Hawks’ attacking threat with Shannon White conceding a goalkeeping error passing the ball to Rosie Willis, the winger took a crack at a chip over the keeper but missed the frame of the goal keeping it 0-0 in the first 12 minutes of the game. Soon after, the Hawks found the opener in the game from Millie McNamara who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal after a cross from Rosie Willis missed all the Flyers’ defence on the way to find McNamara. After some great link-up play between Wernham and Willis the Hawks thought they had found a second goal of the game. Emily Wernham found the feet of Willis after a great pass where Willis drilled the ball across goal back into the striker, but her shot is saved by the keeper. After 25 minutes the visitors finally had their first chance to get a goal after a quick break in attack left Northwood through on goal one on one with Lily Moore but her shot misses the bottom right corner of the goal. Winchester City Flyers began to get more comfortable in the game as they started to create more opportunities and give the Hawks’ back line some trouble, the visitors found the equaliser after the Hawks couldn’t clear the ball out of their box giving Northwood an easy tap-in making it 1-1 into the end of the first half.
Half Time: Havant & Waterlooville 1 – 1 Winchester City Flyers
The Hawks begun the second half eager to get back in front but that soon happened after Megan Gratton came off the bench and made instant impact dispatching a strike from distance into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1 to the Hawks. 2-1 soon became 3-1 after a phenomenal strike from Chloe Dark who took her chance from 30 yards out again into the bottom corner; shocking the Flyers’ who probably thought they were the favourites going into this matchup. The second half was all goals with Havant & Waterlooville able to find a fourth goal in the match coming from Emily Wernham, the striker found herself on the end of a pass from Chloe Dark allowing her an easy chance to create a bigger wound for the Flyers’ back line and comfortably slotting the ball past Shannon White making it 4-1 with 20 minutes still left to play. As the game was coming to the 90th minute the visitors brought a goal back after Northwood was brought down inside the box after an impressive attack weaving in and out past the Hawks’ defence, Annie Northwood stepped up and slotted it into the top left corner of the goal. During stoppage time the Hawks made it a fifth goal coming from captain Jodie Burchell to top off a great team performance from the Hawks as they move on to the third round of the Women’s’ Hampshire County Cup.
Full Time: Havant & Waterlooville 5 – 2 Winchester City Flyers