Needham Market have progressed to the second round of the Eastern Regional League Cup after beating division one south side Hertford Town 2-1 away from home.
The win was sealed in the opening quarter of the game thanks to goals from Molly Hall and Lois Balfour.
But they were made to sweat in the second half as Charlie Mills curled one in after a short corner routine although they couldn’t find an equaliser.
As the Premier Division side, it was unsurprising that Needham started strongly and were ahead within 10 minutes when Hall powered home a header after a great corner from Hayley Kindred.
It didn’t take long to for the lead to be doubled as Balfour converted from close range after a mix up in defence led to a pass back, where an indirect free kick was awarded.
Needham had chances to extend the lead even more, but the gap remained two at the break.
The final goal of the game came on the hour mark as Mills curled in after receiving the ball from a short corner.
Just after the goal Needham brought on Morgan Reddington, who gave a brilliant performance in the centre of midfield to reaffirm the club’s commitment to giving the youth talents in the Development Team chances to play first team football.
Chances continued to come and go with the home goalkeeper keeping rather busy as Needham searched to give themselves that breathing space.
And Kindred thought she had done just that from a Balfour cross field through ball but the flag went up and so it remained 2-1 and Needham took their place into the second round of the cup.