The Cobblers Ladies eased into the second round of the cup with a relatively comfortable win over a young Rise Park team, who not only had to contend with playing away from home against a team from a higher league but also played the entire second half with ten players, due to injury and lack of replacements.
That said, they acquitted themselves well and for long periods in the first half, showed more desire for the ball which denied the Cobblers the ability to string any real quality passing moves together.
The Cobblers did show glimpses of what they are capable of and could have taken an early lead when Leanne Keen tried her luck from distance but the Rise keeper showed composure collecting the high ball form underneath her crossbar.
With both Laura Sutherland and Sam Christie using their pace well on the flanks and with Lisa Porter calling the shots in midfield alongside Nicki Robson, they should have created more clear cut opportunities.
It was Sam however, who eventually broke the deadlock with a strong run down the left wing and her low shot caught out the opposition keeper at her near post.
Rise Park didn't let their heads drop and responded with a chance that could have yielded more but for an excellent close range block from keeper Serena Milenkovic. Her defence coped reasonably comfortably with their duties and with Hannah Cave back in the team to strengthen what has been a very impressive back line, there seemed to be inevitability that Rise would not be able to find any rewards for their efforts.
From the Cobblers point of view the second half was a much better affair with more controlled passing and chances galore to stretch their lead.
Both Janine Holland and Steph Gale had chances to score but a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing let Rise off the hook.
The Cobblers made two second half changes with Elsbeth Wood and Kerri Stanton replacing Sam Christie and Laura Sutherland and the fresh legs proved too much for Rise who were now feeling the effects of the heavy pitch.
Stanton, making her first team debut after progressing through the reserve team, immediately injected pace and movement into the Cobblers attack and showed her potential to develop into a regular first team squad member.
The space both Wood and Stanton created with their forward runs was an open invitation for Lisa Porter to provide the goal of the game with a powerful run through the middle of the park, as she slipped past two tackles and unleashed an unstoppable shot which looped over the stranded keeper.
The two goal cushion allowed Cobblers to relax and start to stretch the opposition and two more goals were added, both from Steph Gale as she showed to all what a natural goalscorer she is. Her first was a clever turn and low shot from the edge of the box and her second showed her pace to latch onto a bouncing through ball and lob the advancing keeper.
The Cobblers made their third change with Lisa Porter replaced by Kirtsy Linnell, who wasted no time in making her mark with some intelligent passing and solid tackling.
Rise continued to battle away to the final whistle and earned a lot of respect from the home team and their supporters for their performance and the spirit in which they played the game.
The Cobblers reward for the win is a second round home tie in two weeks time against Leicester City Ladies, which will provide a tough test for the right to progress further in the competition.
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