AFC Bournemouth Women were defeated 3-1 in their League Cup final against Chesham United.

Chloe Tape netted the only goal for the Cherries, who won promotion with a convincing 12-1 win over Winchester City Flyers last week ago.

Hosted at Alton FC, both sides had early chances to take the lead, before the deadlock was broken a little under ten minutes in.

Chesham, who gained promotion from the Southern Region Women's Premier League this season, saw striker Gemma Fraser raced through on goal, consequently slotting beyond Cherries ‘keeper Kate Guthrie for 1-0.

Guthrie was called into action again shortly after, making a superb save from the in-form Fraser to keep the deficit down.

The Women did have a chance to get back into the game, however, with Tape brought down in the box by Lucia Masella, with the referee pointing straight to the spot.

Yet, it wasn’t to be as Tape’s well-struck shot bounced off the post, despite Masella being sent the wrong way.

Moments later and the Cherries was called back into defensive duties, with Aimee Burridge making a fantastic recovery run to clear a Chesham chance off the line.

Following the break, Steve Davies’ side started strongly, with some early chances coming their way. Up the other end of the pitch, Fraser saw her shot tipped onto the crossbar well.

However, the striker soon made her chances count and doubled Chesham’s lead after latching onto Paula Lambert’s through ball, giving the Buckingham-based side a two-goal margin.  

The Cherries refused to give up, with Meg Vella playing in Tape, who saw her shot well saved by Masella.

Five minutes later and Tape was in the thick of it again, this time going through one-on-one and staying on her feet despite pressure, subsequently pulling a ball across the face of goal for a golden opportunity.

Nevertheless, as the Cherries pushed forward, Chesham took their chances to break and Fraser completed her hat-trick with 20 minutes to go after converting well.

With the clock running down, there was still time for the ladies to pull one back.

Tape’s persistence paid off, after latching onto Burridge’s through ball and firing to the left-hand side of Masella to give the Cherries the least they deserved.

Despite the result, manager Davies remained upbeat about the performance.

“The players gave everything,” he said.

“On another day it may have been different, but delighted with the season gaining promotion and reaching the cup final.”

“It was also great to have the under-10s come and watch us today, and I’d like to thank them for their support and efforts.”

With the season now over for AFC Bournemouth Women, they’ll be looking ahead to next season in the Southern Region Women’s Premier League, having gone up as champions.