Yeovil 1-2 Reading
Reading travelled to Yeovil for the first round of the League Cup, and were involved in a great tie which was only settled in extra time.

The league game had produced a close encounter, and the difficult conditions were to make it equally close this time around.

Reading started the game playing uphill into a strong gale-force wind.

They began brightly though, and created the first chance after three minutes. Excellent work by Jenny Webb made a chance for Laura Woodley, who could not quite connect with the cross.

It was to be a frustrating afternoon for frontwoman Woodley, who was be thwarted by the Yeovil keeper on numerous occasions.

Reading were having greater possession, and Stacey Wiggins, playing her first game in central midfield, was using the ball to great effect.

However Reading could not open the scoring. Rachel Fell saw a shot drift past the post and Woodley forced another good save from the keeper.

The best move of the first half saw a great interchange between Tash Caswell and the overlapping Emma-Jayne Pearmine, who played in Webb but her left foot shot flashed just wide of the post.

We took the lead when Webb cut in from the left and crashed her shot into the opposition corner after 49 minutes.

With 20 minutes to go Reading introduced substitutes Lauren May and Laura Derlacki for Webb and Fell, to add fresh energy in the difficult conditions.

This was soon followed by Polly New for the injured Wiggins, who had enjoyed an excellent game. The substitutes were involved in one of the best moves of the second half which saw May's shot blocked by the last woman.

With five minutes to go Yeovil equalised when a fine left wing cross was well finished by the right winger. This forced the game into extra time, and the winner would be the team who showed most desire and quality at the right time.

Yeovil almost scored in the first minute of extra time, but the striker shot over when through on goal.

This was the wake-up call Reading needed, and they proceeded to dominate the first half of extra time.

May's excellent run down the right almost saw her cross deflected in for an own goal by the Yeovil defender. And she almost scored again when her left foot volley drifted past the post.

Then Woodley was again thwarted by a great save by the keeper.

The decisive moment of quality which won the game came in the second period of extra time, when Tash Caswell expertly lobbed the keeper from 20 yards.

With still 10 minutes of extra time to play, the heavens opened and the match was to be played out in torrential rain.

The final whistle came with Reading moving into the next round of the cup after a hard fought match, which again showed the character and desire needed.