The Ladies were unable to hold on to the Cumbria Women's League Cup as they went down 4-1 to double winners Abbeytown.
Both teams started nervously but Abbeytown made the breakthrough on 8 minutes when their striker volleyed home a cross from the right wing. Newlaithes were seeing plenty of the ball and were moving it around well but they found it difficult to make any headway as the Abbeytown defence was rock solid. Abbeytown extended their lead on 25 minutes when Newlaithes midfielder Paige Williams fell over the ball but was adjudged to have gone in with two feet. Chelsie Browbank stepped up to curl home a spectacular 35 yard free-kick into the top corner to the keeper's right. Newlaithes began to fight back and were getting shots in but despite the pressure, the Abbeytown keeper looked assured in her handling and they were unable to close the gap. As half-time approached, they had a scare when Abbetown clipped the bar following a corner from the left but they were able to scramble the ball clear.
Newlaithes came out fighting for the second half and they played some delightful passing football as they searched for a goal but still Abbeytown stood firm. Chelsea Norris came close with a first time effort from the edge of the area and Alison McCorry forced a scrambled save from the Abbeytown keeper following a smart one-two with Chelsea Norris on the left. It seemed that the goal was never going to come until on 67 minutes Newlaithes defender Jade Williams dispossessed Chelsie Browbank deep inside the Newlaithes half. She took the ball into the centre circle before chipping the ball forward for Faye Comber to flick on with her head. Carly Stevenson got onto the end of it to nudge the ball past the advancing keeper. Newlaithes were firing on all cylinders now as they took the game to Abbeytown and extra time was looking odds-on until on 76 minutes Faye Comber conceded possession midway inside the Newlaithes half when an Abbeytown player flew in from nowhere to steal the ball. Faye tracked her back and got a tackle in to win the ball but the Abbeytown player went down under the challenge and a penalty was awarded. Chelsie Browbank stepped up to fire home into the bottom corner. Newlaithes kept battling but the penalty knocked the wind out of their sales and on 84 minutes Chelsie Browbank rubbed salt in their wounds when she miss-hit a shot from distance to claim her hat-trick. It seemed to be going harmlessly through to keeper Lauren Crofts but the spinning ball kicked viciously of the dry surface, to completely wrong foot her and bounce into the net.
Despite the scoreline and considering that the Ladies hadn't played a match for over 2 months this wasn't a bad performance from Newlaithes and they played some nice football once they got going. Abbeytown defended strongly and their pace up front was always a threat but the Newlaithes defence coped with it admirably with Jade Williams looking solid in the tackle. Nevertheless it was Abbeytown's day and they got their just reward. Abbeytown now go on to the County Cup final where they will attempt to win the treble against Penrith AFC Ladies at Gillford Park, 2pm kick-off on Sunday.
The Newlaithes players can also be proud of their achievement this season, finishing double runners-up as they did two years ago. In the league they finished 2 points from the top and they reached a record 4th consecutive cup final. A brilliant effort lasses!!!
