Reading Women were held to a 1-1 draw by local rivals Oxford City on Sunday, with both sides finding the net in a busy three-minute spell before half-time at the SCL Stadium.
In what was a robust encounter, the Royals went ahead just six minutes before the break when midfield dynamo Ellie Szekeres struck for her first goal of the season, only to see this cancelled out three minutes later as City’s Yasmin Edwards rose highest to head home from a corner.
Neither side could find a decisive breakthrough
after the interval, as a dogged second-half battle saw the points shared in Reading Women’s third consecutive match at the SCL.
Oxford City arrived at the stadium in good form – after thrashing tier-six Penn & Tylers Green 12-0 in their FA Cup second-round qualifying match – and with support in numbers, after the Oxfordshire club kindly helped to subsidise coach travel for the visiting fans.
City are under new leadership for 2026/27, with Aliyah Anthony officially appointed as first-team manager during the summer break after her successful spell as interim manager, following the departure of Lyon Theoharous midway through last season.
Sunday’s match was the fifth time the two sides have met in tier five of the football pyramid, with City getting the better of the Royals both home and away in 2024/25 – Reading at the time were still processing and rebuilding after the reality of their shock three-tier relegation fall.
Last season however was completely different, with Reading – under the new management of Ed Jackson-Norris – returning the favour via a 4-1 away win (two goals each from Tia Johnson and Tyra Wilson) and a 2-1 victory at Arbour Park, Slough. Ellie Manners and Szekeres, once again, got on the score sheet.
This latest stalemate means both sides remain on a similar trajectory after their opening three league fixtures of 2026/27. Oxford City began their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Fleet Town before narrowly suffering a 1-0 home defeat to AFC Porchester, another side expected to challenge towards the top end of the table.
Reading also entered the contest in confident form, having secured successive victories at their new SCL home. A crushing 7-2 league victory over Fleet Town was followed by a 4-1 win against Beaconsfield Town, a result that also earned the Royals and their supporters a trip around the M25 to face Bromley in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup this Sunday, October 4.
Jackson-Norris made four changes to the side that secured FA Cup victory last weekend, with Bethan Poole, Nat Cowell and Szekeres all returning to the starting XI.
There was also a debut for Hungarian youth international Bogi Tramontini, who was named in the starting line-up following the announcement of her registration just hours before kick-off.
Lara Moore and Sophie Bishop joined Freya Morgan, Leah Why and Georgia Hayes among the substitutes, giving the Reading manager another strong bench to call upon, with Martha Riley, Johnson, Keren Banduka, Ava Broke-Smith and Manners just some of the additional players absent from the matchday squad.
Team: Sophie Butler (GK), Poppy Whitburn (Lara Moore, 77’), Keziah Banduka, Sarah Thompson, Bethan Poole (Sophie Bishop, 70’) , Ellie Szekeres, Ellie Luscombe, Mia Parker (captain) (Freya Morgan, 64’), Alice Curr, Nat Cowell (Leah Why, 56’), Bogi Tramontini (Georgia Hayes, 67’)
Reading goalscorers: Ellie Szekeres, 38’
Oxford City goalscorers: Yasmin Edwards 42’
Reading yellow cards: None
Oxford City yellow cards: Yasmin Edwards, 50’; Billie Bough-French, 64’; Number 11 and sin bin, 90+4; coach 90+4
First half
Reading fans who had not seen Tramontini in pre-season (against Atletico London) were given an early glimpse of her quality. Inside 10 minutes, the young debutant slipped a perfectly weighted pass through to Cowell, who finished past City goalkeeper Aimee Flood, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
It was a theme and first of several frustrating decisions against the experienced striker throughout the first half.
It was perhaps also a portent of what was to come, with a late controversial flag from the other assistant referee denying the Royals a penalty after the referee overturned the initial decision (but more of that later).
Not to be outdone in the skill department, Cowell provided a sublime reverse pass to captain Parker, who had burst into the box, but was unable to finish after a great bit of play and pressure from the home side.
Oxford City also posed a threat in attack. Meira Ashby, Kate Parsons and Yasmin Edwards are already included in the league’s leading goalscorers this season, with Ellie White named on the bench but coming on after 30 minutes of play.
It was Parsons who tested the Reading defence early, with Thompson doing just enough to pressure the Oxford City striker in a foot race. Minutes later, Royals goalkeeper Butler was called into action, diving to her right to keep out another powerful effort from the Oxford City forward.
Oxford City continued to threaten when Edwards charged down the right before sending a deep cross towards Ashby – her effort fortunately hitting the side netting, much to the relief of Butler.
In between those chances, Tramontini twice threatened for Reading. She fired wide of the post after some delightful footwork created the opening, and saw another effort flash across the face of goal from a tight angle.
Both of the referee’s assistants had an important decisions to make during the match. With just over half an hour played, and with a second earlier attempt chalked out for offside, Cowell completed the unfortunate and unusual statistic of a hat-trick of goals ruled out for offside.
Although Cowell looked to have strayed earlier on a couple of occasions, the fans will have still been left wondering whether it was the Reading striker or assistant referee who needed to sharpen up on their timing.
Cowell then turned provider, breaking into the penalty area before sending a cross from the left towards Parker, whose effort was blocked by Flood. Szekeres reacted quickest to the rebound, poking the ball home from close range to put Reading ahead. 1-0.
But Oxford’s prolific striker Edwards had other ideas. Her perfectly timed header cancelled out Reading’s advantage just three minutes later to make it 1-1 at the break.
Half-time: 1-1
Oxford City manager Anthony made her second change at half-time, while Jackson-Norris kept faith with the same XI for the restart.
Cowell must have felt it was not her day when, in the opening minutes of the second half, her turn, swivel and half-volley was saved by City goalkeeper Flood.
At the back, Keziah Banduka put in a big tackle, with a perfectly timed challenge, to deny Edwards from a long ball over the top.
After last weekend’s performance, it may have surprised many fans that Reading striker Bishop was not only left out of the starting XI but also remained on the bench until the 70th minute. She replaced Poole, who had picked up a knock, with Curr moving to left-back.
Despite end-to-end pressure, neither goalkeeper was overly tested in the second half. Bishop came closest to breaking the stalemate when she met a cross from substitute Why, only for City goalkeeper Flood to produce a spectacular save to tip her goal-bound effort onto the crossbar.
Jackson-Norris’ team (and squad) is generally built around a group of young, talented players who are still learning their trade – technically accomplished and doing their best to play an attractive style of football for fans to enjoy.
However, they often come up against sides with greater experience, physical strength and a more streetwise approach, all of which can disrupt the rhythm of the match to halt momentum and promising passages of play at crucial moments.
Oxford City demonstrated that in the second half. Along with their attacking threat and defensive resilience, the visitors showed another side of how to play the game.
Breaking the flow of the match, unsettling Reading in the process, City collected four yellow cards in the second half. Edwards, Billie Bough-French and Emily Harris were all booked (with Harris also serving a sin-bin time-out dissent during added time) and Oxford’s assistant coach was also cautioned, in what was a farcical end to an otherwise competitive contest.
With 10 second-half substitutions between the two sides and a couple of stoppages for injuries, the referee opted for what was to turn out to be 13 minutes of additional time.
Four minutes into stoppage time, Reading appeared to have won a penalty when the referee pointed to the spot after a clear foul on Bishop. However, the assistant had other ideas and raised his flag for offside in the build-up, following Curr’s free-kick.
The decision appeared questionable under the modern interpretation of the offside law (appearing to raise his flag as the ball left Curr’s set-piece), but the referee ultimately overturned the penalty award and gave the decision in Oxford’s favour (with a penny for the thought of the onlooking refereeing assessor in the stands).
Unusually, when the decision was awarded against Reading, it was the Oxford City coach who was cautioned and player sent to the sin bin, during the ensuing protests, while Jackson-Norris and the Reading coaching team somehow managed (on the outside at least) to remain professional and composed throughout.
Full-time: 1-1
The Royals now sit exactly half-way up the table, in sixth place, on four points and just three points behind the top three sides.
Although it’s too early to worry about league positions, this game felt like two points dropped, with Farnham Town and AFC Portchester drawing their match and with all of the top six believing they will be in contention for pole position come April and May.
After another great attendance in excess of 600, Royals fans may now have a long wait before the team return to the SCL, with four consecutive away matches scheduled.
Next weekend (Sunday October 4, 2pm) Reading travel to Bromley for the next qualifying round of the FA Cup. It’s a bit of a trek (around the M25 London orbital), but if you can make it, please come along and cheer the team on the road.
See you there!
Other league results
- Chesham United 2-3 Winchester City Flyers
- Denham United 3-0 Beaconsfield Town
- Farnham Town 1-1 AFC Portchester
- Sholing 1-3 Southampton Women
- Woodley United 0-1 Fleet Town
