This was always going to be a keenly contested battle between two fairly evenly matched teams. The first 7 minutes saw end to end exchanges without ay real goal threats.
Moulton began to take control and had a series of corners taken by Cat. These were scrambled away by Brackley and eventually cleared.
After 15 minutes Brackley began to exert pressure but from a corner they overhit it and danger averted.
23 minutes and Moulton were finding their feet and playing well although the midfield was becoming a keenly contested battle. Two minutes later Georgia was involved in a super passing move down the right and from the deep cross Wiki just missed the far post. Son after Tilly was replaced by Chloe, who had returned from a long holiday. Then on 27 minutes another great ball from Georgia found Chloe and Steph on the right, Steph cut in and hit a good shot that was well saved by the Brackley large, commanding keeper. Moulton were beginning to control the midfield with Chloe prominent, she put a great ball through to Beth whose control let her down on this incredibly bumpy surface.
Half an hour gone and a promising move from Brackley saw the shot well handled by Fi who was standing in in goal, with both regular keepers being away. The midfield battle was really heating up with Chloe being a thorn in the side of Brackley's midfield.35 minutes gone and a skirmish after a Moulton corner saw the ball fall to Kim whose shot was headed for the top corner of the net when a leap from Brackley's keeper saw her claw it away for a corner. 43 minutes and Chloe and Steph combined to put Beth through but the shot skewed away for a goal-kick.
As half time approached, Georgia and Chloe combined and Beth was put through to chase, she hustled the defender and hit her shot high into the roof of the net, 1-0 Moulton. A minute later saw Steph break through and her goal bound shot bounced strangely and hit the post and Brackley scrambled it away. HT 1-0.
After 2 minutes of the 2nd half a Brackley corner was hammered across the box and everyone missed it except Brackley sub Elle Georgiou who calmly hit it in from 5 yards to level at 1-1. Second half then became a messy midfield tussle. This began to boil over and Chloe and Kerry of Brackley had to be spoken to by the referee, he dealt calmly with the situation but it appeared that the Brackley player didn't like Chloe's skill level. There were tackles flying in in midfield from both teams and the ball broke for Brackley but Jade and Cat at the back snuffed out the threat. Then on 81 minutes against the run of play, a Brackley breakaway saw Lydia Avann hit a hard, early shot into the corner of the net for 2-1 Brackley. Moulton then threw players forward. Molly made a great run but her shot went past the post. On 86 minutes Moulton attacked in numbers and Beth made another run forward, but the ball was cleared to Jess, who moved the ball onto her left foot (of course) and sent a swinging shot into the top corner from almost 30 yards out, 2-2. No more chances so to penalties we go,
A lottery as usual and the large presence of the Brackley keeper proved too much for Moulton and she saved two of the pens and Brackley ran out 4-3 winners on penalties.
In summary , a very pleasing performance from Moulton with Georgia and Sophie having outstanding games, Cat and Jade were strong at the back hardly putting a foot wrong. In midfield Chloe showed glimpses of what is to come on a decent pitch. Steph and Beth ran tirelessly up front, Kim probably had one of her best games and was everywhere and very unlucky not to score. Wiki and Beth were both hardworking and all the subs who came on Stacey, Calista, Jess and Molly worked their socks off. Moulton will play a lot worse this season and win.