WATFORD Ladies defeated Doncaster Belles 3-2 at Letchworth to go through to the Women's League Cup Quarter Finals on Sunday (14 October).

Despite being without several regular starters, the Hornets showed their strength in depth by defeating one of the biggest names in women's football.

After a shaky 10 minutes where the new girls found their feet and gained their confidence, the yellows started to cause problems for the visitors as they attacked with pace. Indeed, Ashlee Hincks broke through only to hit the post as early as the fifth minute.

In the 36th minute, Kemp was adjudged to have brought down Cantrell inside the box and the resultant penalty dispatched by Exley just beyond the reach of Hourihan. However, Watford reacted well and pushed forward in search of an equaliser. The hosts got their reward in the 42nd minute as Hincks scored direct from a corner to make it 1-1 at half-time.

The second half was primarily Watford, as their confidence grew, they moved the ball well right through the team. Lander and Hincks broke several times before the important second goal came in the 59th minute. The lively Helen Lander slipped past a defender on the left and cut in towards goal, she couldn't be caught and slotted calmly past Collie to make it 2-1.

Shortly afterwards, Lander completed her brace. Wade slid a great ball through to Landers' feet, the running off the ball from Maggs and Hincks caused some hesitance in the Doncaster centre backs allowing Lander to drive straight through the middle and again leave Collie one-on-one with the prolific striker. Once again, Lander showed her quality in front of goal and gave her team a two goal cushion with just 20 minutes to play.

Watford continued to press and forced several corners but couldn't open up the Doncaster defence any further.

With only three minutes of time remaining Doncaster pulled a goal back as the Watford players hesitated on what they presumed would be called a free kick on Maggs, only to be caught out when the referee, surprisingly waved play on. Exley was on hand in the box to tap in a cross from the Doncaster substitute Leat. It wasn't enough to spoil the home team's day and Watford kept possession well to run the clock down and achieve their Quarter Final place.

Manager Sian Williams spoke of her delight in the performance: "The girls performed very well against what is one of the best known clubs in women's football. This is a big hurdle for us to overcome as the newly promoted team, and even more impressive when I consider some of the players that we didn't have playing today. I am going to have some huge selection decisions to make over the next few weeks as so many of the new players have performed extremely well.

"Both Charity Weston and Donnique Sinclair-Chambers have played their first games for the club this week and have been very impressive. Also, Laura Husselbee and Emma Beckett have acquitted themselves well since they have had more playing time. Emma Beckett is a creative player who is growing game by game and could, I believe, be an influential player for us as the season continues.

"The back four have provided a solid base for us to build on and as for the attacking line-up, Lander is virtually unstoppable when she is on song and the quick support play from Hincks, Maggs and Weston made us a handful to deal with today."

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