Cranleigh Women’s unbeaten run came to an end on Sunday against a well-organised and skilful Fleet Town Reserves side. Despite a spirited second-half performance, the damage had already been done in a tough opening 45 minutes.
Fleet took control early on, capitalising on Cranleigh’s errors and lack of composure in possession to race to a 4–0 lead by half-time. Goalkeeper Laura worked tirelessly to keep the scoreline respectable, pulling off several key saves to deny Fleet further advantage.
But in a true game of two halves, Cranleigh came out with renewed energy and looked the more likely side to score. Their pace on the counter-attack caused Fleet problems throughout, and the breakthrough finally came when Caroline’s jinking run into the box was halted by a foul.
After her success from the spot last week, Tia once again stepped up confidently to bury the penalty — her consistency and composure marking her as one of Cranleigh’s standout performers.
Despite winning the second half 1–0, Cranleigh couldn’t recover from their first-half mistakes.
Manager Nick Bamford reflected after the match:
“We always look dangerous on the break, but our tendency to give possession away — particularly in our own half — is the root cause of our downfall. That said, we don’t let our heads drop. The spirit and application of the squad will pay dividends as the season progresses.”
Cranleigh Women now take a two-week break before travelling to face Ash United on Sunday 23rd November — a chance to reset, regroup, and build on the positives from another determined performance.
