Brentford Women book their place in the Capital Cup final after beating Denham United Ladies 3-1 at The Den on Sunday afternoon.

A dominant first half from the Bees saw the visitors go into the break with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Chloe Logie strike, the number nine pounced again early on in the second half before a Nikki Saunders strike sealed the win for Brentford Women.

The Women’s First team came into Sunday’s semi-final in fine form following last weekend’s 6-2 win over Leatherhead in the London South East Regional Division One North.

The opening stages of the game were fairly even as both sides looked to establish themselves in the match which had so much at stake.

Brentford’s first chance came on 12 minutes when Nikki Saunders was awarded a free-kick on the left side of the Denham box. The forward’s in-swinging cross found the head of Kirsty Matthews but the number 15 flicked the ball just wide of the far post.

Moments later the Bees got themselves in front after some brilliant build-up play which ended in Logie finding the back of the net.

Logie made it 23 goals for the season

Chloe Webb played a neat ball down the left flank to Jodie Reid who replaced an injured Sophie Troth in the starting line-up moments before kick-off. Brentford’s number 16 then threaded through a pass to Logie who confidently tucked the ball into the bottom corner from close range.

The visitors were playing some great football with Reid proving to be effective on the left flank.

After some good work on the right-wing Matthews found Reid who made a good run inside the Brentford box, but the Midfielder put too much power on her first-time shot as it flew over the bar.

Denham’s first opportunity on the Brentford goal came just before the half-hour mark when Amie Hewitt saw her free-kick from 25 yards go inches wide of the top left corner.

The Bees looked threatening on the break with Logie causing problems with her movement off the ball, moments before half-time the striker was played through one on one with the Denham keeper only for the linesman’s flag to deny the number nine in what looked like a very tight decision.

Denham came out fast in the second half and nearly got themselves on level terms on 46 minutes through another Hewitt free-kick.

The home side’s number four powerfully struck her set piece but Walker, who was making her debut for Brentford made a good save, tipping the ball over the bar.

Brentford got their second against the run of play just two minutes after the Denham chance and it was Logie who was at it once again.

The striker made it 23 for the season after running onto a through ball from Matthews and showing great composure to lift her shot over Zara Butt in the Denham net.

Logie was causing the Denham backline all sorts of problems, this time she found Reid with a brilliant pass, the Brentford midfielder unleashed a first-time shot with her left foot which was agonisingly close to finding the far right corner.

Matthews put in a strong performance

The Bees were playing with serious confidence and looked dangerous anytime they went forward. On 69 minutes Matthews came close after her shot from the right side of the box nearly crept in at the near post but Butt did well to make the save.

A few minutes later Brentford got their third and this time Logie turned provider as she picked out Saunders who powerfully smashed the ball into the top left corner from inside the box leaving Butt with no chance.

Despite the game looking out of sight for the home team they still had their moments and did manage to pull one back on 74 minutes.

After Walker made another brilliant save denying Phoebe Smith, Brentford conceded a corner with the cross finding Smith at the far post who took a touch before smashing the ball into the bottom corner beating Walker with her second shot.

Walker was back in action again as Denham looked to pile on the pressure towards the end of the match with the new Brentford number one making two excellent saves.

The keeper did well to get down quickly to save Nagle’s long-range strike before stopping Smith’s rebound from finding the back of the net.

Brentford did well to control the late Denham flurry as they saw out the game and ensured their place in the Capital Cup final after a brilliant performance.

Karleigh Osborne’s thoughts

Speaking after the semi-final victory, Osborne said: “I’m over the moon with the win, it was always going to be a tough game against Denham but we managed to keep them quiet and hurt them with our attack.

“We showed our quality on the ball with our passing patterns on what was a difficult pitch to play on but the players never made any excuses and got the job done.”

The Women’s First team had played at The Den just a few weeks ago where they were made to rue their missed opportunities as they lost 1-0.

Osborne reflected on how important he felt Logie’s early goal was as this allowed his side to brush off any cobwebs they may have still had following the last result to Denham.

“It was an important goal for us and for Logie as well after her penalty miss here, she’s so important for us when she’s firing and I was super impressed with her today.

“She had a calm demeanour about herself today and I asked her for an early goal which she delivered and put in an excellent performance to go with it.”

Walker made her first appearance for Brentford between the sticks and was vital for her side as they kept the Denham attack quiet for the majority of the game.

Osborne continued: “I thought we were top draw at the back today, the defence looked really strong despite us having to make a few changes and Freya was amazing in goal for us.

“At just 16 years old she showed real maturity and she looks to have a big future ahead of her.

“Overall, I’m delighted that we have got ourselves into a final, the players deserve it and have worked hard all season but we need to make sure we go and get the job done now and win some silverware.”