26/08/2026
Wellington 3–8 Talgarth Ladies ⚽️🖤♥️
🏆 Manager’s LOTM: Kirsty Rea
🏆 Assistant Manager’s LOTM: Milly Tame
🏆 Players LOTM: Jade Maddy
⚽ Goals:
🎩 Kirsty Rea x3
🔥 Caitlin O’Shea x3
⚡ Jade Maddy
💪 Milly Tame
Tuesday evening saw Talgarth Ladies travel across the border to Herefordshire to take on Wellington in our final friendly of the season.
We knew from the start that Wellington would provide a stern test. They’re a well-organised and competitive side, but Talgarth settled into their rhythm brilliantly after a tense opening few minutes.
Wellington threatened first, but Meg Ryan was alert off her line, sweeping confidently outside her box to s***f out the danger.
From there, Talgarth began to take control. The midfield started to dictate the tempo, with Lucy Belcher, Sophie Combstock, Jade Maddy and Jess Burdon linking up beautifully and moving the ball through the thirds with some excellent triangle play.
That confidence soon spread across the pitch, with Caitlin O’Shea, Milly Tame and Kirsty Rea constantly looking to stretch Wellington’s backline and exploit the space in behind.
⚽ 0–1 Talgarth
The breakthrough came from a superb passage of play. Kirsty Rea picked up the ball, spotted Caitlin O’Shea making an intelligent forward run and threaded a perfectly weighted pass into her path. Caitlin kept her composure and calmly found the back of the net from a tight angle.
Wellington responded almost immediately with a quick counter-attack. Their pacey forward broke through one-on-one and finished clinically into the corner.
⚽ 1–1
Talgarth knew they had a game on their hands and responded by regaining their composure.
At the back, Catrin Davies, Chloe Lewis and Katie Nutter remained disciplined, holding their defensive shape and forcing Wellington to play around the outside rather than through the middle. Their defensive work gave Talgarth the platform to launch attacks on the counter.
⚽ 1–2 Talgarth
Some quick combination play through midfield released Milly Tame down the flank. Milly showed her pace and power, driving towards the byline before delivering an excellent cross into the box. Kirsty Rea met it with a thunderous first-time finish across the goalkeeper and into the net.
⚽ 1–3 Talgarth
Talgarth were now turning the screw.
Pressure from Milly Tame forced Wellington into a mistake and Talgarth won possession high up the pitch. The ball fell perfectly for Kirsty Rea, who made no mistake, finding the corner with another clinical finish.
Just before half-time, Jade Maddy produced one of the moments of the game. Picking the ball up in midfield, Jade drove forward and danced through challenge after challenge, leaving Wellington defenders in her wake before going one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The keeper produced an excellent save to deny her.
Chris Jones was introduced to freshen things up and help Talgarth see out the first half.
But Wellington refused to go quietly. A long ball released their quick winger, who raced forward before delivering across the box for their striker to finish.
⚽ 2–3 at half-time
SECOND HALF
Talgarth came out for the second half composed, confident and determined to put the game beyond Wellington.
And it didn’t take long.
⚽ 2–4 Talgarth
Caitlin O’Shea showed her quality once again, finding space on the angle before unleashing a superb strike that flew into the top corner. An excellent finish.
⚽ 2–5 Talgarth
Then came another moment of quality. Jess Burdon spotted Caitlin’s run and delivered a beautifully weighted through ball. Caitlin showed great composure, rounded off the move and calmly placed the ball into the corner.
Wellington continued to battle and had opportunities of their own, with some efforts going narrowly wide and others safely dealt with by Bethan Walton, who remained composed between the sticks.
At the other end, Sophie Combstock, Jade Maddy and Lucy Belcher all went close, with efforts either saved by the Wellington goalkeeper or narrowly missing the target.
⚽ 2–6 Talgarth
Another brilliant piece of determination from Milly Tame.
Jade Maddy released the ball forward and it looked like it might run beyond Milly. But she simply refused to give up, turning on the afterburners and beating the advancing goalkeeper to the ball.
Milly managed to get her touch towards and in goal, but the challenge resulted in a collision between the two players. The Wellington goalkeeper, who had produced several excellent saves throughout the match, unfortunately couldn’t continue.
Credit to Wellington — despite the scoreline, they continued to show plenty of fight and stuck together as a team.
⚽ 3–6
Their persistence was rewarded when they created another good attacking opportunity and found the back of the net.
With around 20 minutes remaining, Penny Hourahane and Hollie Moule entered the action to freshen things up. Hollie slotted into the defence while Penny added fresh energy to the midfield.
⚽ 3–7 Talgarth
And finally, Jade Maddy got the goal her performance deserved.
After working tirelessly throughout the match and covering every blade of grass, Jade combined beautifully with Kirsty Rea, bursting into the box before keeping her composure and calmly finishing past the Wellington goalkeeper.
⚽ 3–8 Talgarth
With the game entering its final stages, both teams were beginning to tire — but Talgarth had one more piece of attacking quality left.
Penny Hourahane picked out Caitlin O’Shea, who then released Kirsty Rea into space behind the defence.
Kirsty made absolutely no mistake, calmly finishing to complete her hat-trick and put the final stamp on an excellent team performance.
🏁 FULL TIME
Wellington 3–8 Talgarth Ladies
A fantastic final friendly for Talgarth Ladies, with goals, attacking football, defensive resilience and some excellent passages of play from start to finish.
Most importantly, the performance showed the growth, confidence and teamwork this group has developed. From the backline to midfield and right through to the attack, every player contributed.
👏 Brilliant performance, ladies.
What a way to finish the friendlies. Bring on the season! ⚽️🖤♥️