United beat Newcastle 2-1 to go into 5th round
Oxford United Ladies secured a historic victory over Newcastle at the Kassam Stadium as two early goals were enough to win the game 2-1 and put them into Monday's fifth round draw.
The lead was doubled in the 14th minute when Tash Caswell picked up the ball in the centre of the Newcastle half, advanced a few paces and shot under the diving Wareham. Newcastle rarely threatened in a first half that was almost all Oxford, although the visitors did come close midway through the half when, following a corner there was a melee in the United area and the ball hit the post before eventually being shot over. Oxford were by far the more dangerous-looking side, with Tash Caswell pulling the strings in midfield, ans Isi Meade making driving runs down the left. At the back Sahara Osborne-Ricketts was imperious and Oxford were good value for their half-time lead.
Newcastle needed an early goal in the second half and they got it when United failed to deal with a free-kick, allowing Jess Havelock a close range tap-in to reduce the arrears. This signalled a brief spell of Newcastle pressure, but they were unable to make Hannah Cox work and United gradually came back into the game. Tash Caswell in particular had three good shooting opportunities but was unable to hit the target. At the other end Osborne-Ricketts managed to get goalside of a Newcastle striker to block what looked a certain goal to keep United ahead.
Leading scorer Lauren Allison had a couple of sights of goal but for the first was unable to keep her shot down and for the second a Newcastle defender got in a block. As the game entered stoppage time United had two glorious opportunities to put the match to bed. First Allison sent Dan Anderson clear, but her shot was blocked by Wareham. Then an Anderson cross found Holly Pickett at the far post and her shot hit the bar. In the end it didn't matter though as Newcastle were unable to find an equaliser and United deserved their victory.
United: Hannah Cox, Isi Meade, Steph Mobbs (Hayley Bennett), Sahara Osborn-Ricketts, Lauren Allison, Cat Beaver, Katie Stanley, Tash Caswell, Holly Pickett, Amy Chivers, Lindsay Pinker (Dan Anderson)