Middlesbrough held their nerve in a penalty shootout to edge past Hull City and into the third round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
After a goalless 90 minutes, Boro switched goalkeepers, bringing on Ruby Cook. She made an immediate impact, saving the first penalty she faced, but it was 4-4 after the first five efforts.
Armani Maxwell put Boro back up and when the next penalty went over the bar from Hull, it was Middlesbrough who came through 5-4 in the shootout against a team from the league above.
There was an even more remarkable shootout in the clash between Luton Town and Stevenage, with the former eventually progressing 15-14 on penalties.
Sarah Hudson was the hero for Luton, scoring a penalty of her own, then saving from opposite number Lauren Reeves to keep the shootout going. She then repeated the trick to deny Hannah Nebbitt and fire Luton through.
They were joined in the next round by Cheadle Town Stingers, who were 4-0 winners away at FC St Helens, with Rachael Dunlop grabbing a hat-trick.
That was one of a number of hat-tricks on the day, with Grace Stanley also notching three in QPR’s 5-0 win over Saltdean United.
Laura Elford was even more impressive for Burnley, scoring five times in their 11-0 win over Bradford City.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest ran riot in a 19-0 win away to Long Itchington and
Last weekend, Ipswich Town had staged a remarkable comeback to knock out FA Women's National League title rivals Hashtag United on penalties.
There was little to separate the two sides, who are first and second in the Southern Premier Division as Ipswich’s Maisy Barker cancelled out Wiktoria Fronc’s early opener.
With 20 minutes left, Holly Turner thought she bagged the winner against her former club, but Sophie Peskett found a 96th-minute equaliser for Ipswich.
Town were dominant from the spot, scoring all four of their penalties to progress 4-1.
The celebrations of a penalty shootout! 🤯@ITFCWomen's Lucy O'Brien scored the winning penalty to see them through to the #AdobeWomensFACup third round proper! pic.twitter.com/B7AdzmKcKP
— Adobe Women's FA Cup (@AdobeWFACup) November 24, 2024
There was drama at Bedfont Sports Club where Brentford came out on top against National League side London Seaward thanks to Nikki Woods' late strike.
Despite being two tiers down, Brentford booked their place in the third round thanks to a fine effort in the 1-0 win.
Today’s winning goal courtesy of Nikki Woods 🎯#BrentfordFCW | #BrentfordFC pic.twitter.com/Lw5fYzmcFO
— Brentford FC Women (@BrentfordFCW) November 24, 2024
Elsewhere, Fulham bounced back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 against fellow fifth-tier side Royston Town.
Royston went 2-0 up through an own goal and Laura Mills but Megalie Mendes pulled one back for Fulham.
Mills restored Royston’s two-goal cushion but Ella Tagliavini and Ella Newman spearheaded Fulham’s comeback charge.
The drama was not over though, and Ellie Olds produced an 89th-minute winner to break Royston’s hearts.
Meanwhile, fifth-tier Chester-le-Street Town edged into the third round thanks to a shoot-out victory over National League side Durham Cestria.
Jenny Ashton continued her fine goalscoring form to bag a first half equaliser, cancelling out Daisy May Clarke’s opener for Durham.
Chester-le-Street held their nerve as the game went to penalties, winning 4-3 and knocking out the team a tier above them.
Shrewsbury Town recovered from conceding a last-minute equaliser to progress on penalties, after being held 3-3 by Sheffield.
Eva Stanley took the lead for Shrewsbury twice, only for Sheffield to battle back to parity through Lucy Cook and Halima Essa.
Kim Bebbington came seconds away from winning it for Shrewsbury, but Tilly Hallas-Potts scored as Sheffield came back for the third time.
Unfortunately, their luck had finally run out as Shrewsbury finally won 4-2 on penalties.
There was a goal-fest in Barnet as former WSL side London Bees came from behind to beat fourth-tier rivals Chatham Town.
Chatham led twice in the first half, through Lottie Sharp and Amelia Woodgate, but were pegged back both times thanks to goals from Shamoy Campbell and Chloe Tambula.
Mira Hoteit gave London Bees a vital lead with half an hour left, and they held on to avenge their 4-0 loss against the same opposition back in September.
Oxford United needed a Paris Sercombe penalty save to help them over the line over National League rivals Watford.
After a tense first half, Vitaliia Budaieva put the U’s ahead with 20 minutes left from point-blank range.
Paris Sercombe saves a penalty to become the hero for @OfficialOUWFC! 🧤💛#AdobeWomensFACup pic.twitter.com/HtxfkKu5Zi
— Adobe Women's FA Cup (@AdobeWFACup) November 24, 2024
However, Watford spurned a golden opportunity to equalise, Sercombe dived low to her right to keep out Coral-Jade Haines’s spot kick after a handball in the area.
Down in the south west, Exeter City took the bragging rights in their derby away against Plymouth Argyle, running out 5-1 victors to put their name in the draw.
And there was drama in the clash between Worthing and Aylesford, the latter denied a giantkilling despite a late equaliser to make it 2-2, with Worthing coming out on top on penalties, 5-3.
Moneyfields also came close to an upset away to Cheltenham, leading for much of the game only to concede twice late on in a 2-1 defeat to opposition from the tier above.
