The Cobblers Ladies bowed out of the Womens FA Cup at the hands of a very good City side whose pace, passing and movement was all too much for the home side too handle.

City played with a similar style to Ipswich, who beat Cobblers the previous week so the Ladies knew they were in for a tough challenge and so it proved. The Cobblers did come out of the blocks quickly and created one or two good chances but on the whole, the City keeper was never really tested throughout the game.

Taking the positives and there were some, the continued improvement and confidence building of the younger members of the squad, who came on in the second half and competed well.

Jess Paver showed she is not afraid to mix it with the bigger players and impressed with her work rate in the second half. Lucy Bateman, captaining the side in the absence of the influential Lisa Porter, returned after a two week absence and showed some neat touches in the centre of midfield alongside Elsbeth Wood and both worked hard to close down City's playmakers.

Lynsey Jelley who also returned after missing games, again worked hard in defence to keep track of City's pacy wingers but to be truthful, the back four were given a tough workout but managed to restrict City to long range efforts for most of the game.

Hannah Cave, Natalie Smith and Hayley Gallachi all put in creditable performances but at times were overun by the speed and numbers with which City attacked.

When city did close in on goal, they spurned good chances and had to settle for a scrappy first goal which came from a rather lucky rebound off a Cobblers player.

In the second half, City found their shooting boots and scored with two long range efforts which Cobblers keeper Serena Milenkovic had no chance in saving but again she performed well and pulled off stops which kept the scoreline to a respectable level. The Cobblers were denied a goal when a free-kick was touched to Bateman and her powerful shot crashed off the underside of the bar and crossed the line, only for the ref to order a re-take, as he hadn't blown the whistle.

After City scored their fourth, the Cobblers looked tired and dejected but battled to the end. Hannah Cave epitomised the never say die spirit which she has shown throughout her career and pushed the team all the way to the final whistle.

Leicester deserved the win and should progress a lot further in the competition with a fine blend of youth and experience.

The Cobblers again have to respond to a heavy defeat and prepare for another tough game, away to Enfield in the league.

HAVE A BET ON ANY COBBLERS MATCH OR OTHER SPORTING EVENT AT bet365. EVERY BET PLACED BENEFITS THE CLUB