Maidenhead United Women pushed one of the pre-season favourites for promotion Swindon Town all the way in their opening FAWNL Division One South West fixture of the season and felt aggrieved at an unfortunate pivotal moment just before half time which they felt had gone against them.
The Robins were only eclipsed in the divisional goalscoring stakes by runaway champions AFC Bournemouth last term and it took them barely ninety seconds to get on the front foot in the 2025/26 campaign. United – with five debutants making their first competitive starts for the club and a further two on the substitutes bench – were slow to react in their own box and prolific Swindon captain Annie Colston drove the ball into the top corner of Amy Whale’s goal.
Sides with lesser character would have melted in the withering Wiltshire sunshine but Maidenhead stuck to their guns, played on the front foot and were only denied an equaliser when Martha Riley’s goal-bound shot from distance was somehow parried behind by Swindon goalkeeper Hannah Cox. From the resultant corner, an assistant referee’s flag indicated an infringement by Cox and United had their first goal of the Kitson era from the penalty spot thanks to Macey Walters emphatic spot kick. Swindon were rocking by now and Maidenhead’s intensity again saw Riley denied by Cox at full stretch.
It was therefore against the run of play when Isabelle Cook restored Swindon’s lead in frustrating style just before the break. Maidenhead players and staff felt aggrieved that the match referee looked to have inadvertently impeded a United player’s attempt to get to the ball before Cook took advantage of the space to fire a shot into the top corner.
The goal may have changed the pattern of the game somewhat as the highly-rated hosts enjoyed more of the territory in the second half but they were largely restricted to wayward long distance finishing. Indeed – unlike her counterpart – Amy Whale in the Maidenhead goal only had one save to make until the closing moments, and that itself in fairness was a splendid reaction at her far post. Swindon also saw an effort come back off the cross bar, but it was only inside the final five minutes that United rather overplayed in the wrong area and were punished when Elise Clayton scored from a rebound. A Colston header from a corner into stoppage time gave the scoreline a rather flattering look.
Whilst Robins manager Richard Wood admitted post-match that Maidenhead had “unsettled” his side, Dave Kitson was similarly impressed with Maidenhead as he commented: “I was so pleased with the way we approached the game today. We have shown that we are not scared of anybody. We have only been together as a group for a month but we are together, and it’s exciting to think how much we can improve. We have gone toe to toe with arguably the favourites for the league title and scared them to death. Only a monster of a mistake by the referee at a time when we were on top has cost us a result.”
United now go into two home matches this week – on Wednesday 20th August against Actonians in the FAWNL Cup and on Sunday 24th when Keynsham visit SL6.
Meanwhile, Chris Maynard’s MUWFC Development continued their pre-season campaign ahead of their new season which starts on 7th September. They faced Tier 5 side Beaconsfield Town on Sunday afternoon and Maynard’s young team put in a positive display against an established side. Sofia Allan and Emily Norman scored the goals in a 5-2 defeat. Chris remarked: “All in all a really pleasing second half performance, we just need to work on how we start games.”
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