HELSTON Athletic Women put themselves through to the next round of the Women’s FA Cup with an away win at AEK-Boco Ladies.

The third qualifying round match in the Women’s FA Cup took place at AEK’s Greenbank Road and saw the ladies from Helston put themselves in front in under five minutes after Liz O'Reilly took aim from range and saw her stunning effort fly past AEK’s keeper.

Just over five minutes later, the hosts almost found themselves an equaliser as a spilled ball from Helston’s keeper meant AEK’s Clark and Stirling both had chances on goal but couldn’t find their way through to the net.

Both sides were relatively evenly matched through much of the first half, with the hosts struggling to break down Helston’s defence and both teams also battling the pitch surface.

On the thirty-minute mark, Helston’s Prouse managed to fire a shot away from distance but AEK’s keeper, Leah Whiffen, did well to save the incoming effort on the bounce.

AEK responded minutes later breaking well through Stirling down the left wing whose cross to Atkinson is in turn put through to Clark who can only manage a tame effort which is scooped up by the Helston keeper.

However, the extended period of pressure from the hosts did eventually pay off as Atkinson eventually found herself in space down the right and put a ball through to Clark whose effort is blocked. Jess Stirling then latched on to the loose ball and equalised with a well-placed finish into the Helston net.

At half-time, the scores remained one apiece.

The opening of the second half saw Helston reignite their fire and regain the lead after O'Reilly skipped past her marker down the left before cutting back for Abigail Locke who fired a shot into the roof of the net to give the visitors a single goal advantage again.

Having retaken the lead, Helston’s women began to take hold of the scrappy affair while AEK struggled to get themselves back into a threatening position.

Just before the 70-minute mark, Helston almost found a third through a header from a corner but the effort went just wide of the mark.

Minutes later, however, The Blues did find their third as they robbed the ball from AEK in midfield before Bethany Prouse side-stepped an incoming tackle and then slotted her shot into the bottom corner to put the visitors 1-3 up.

As the end of the second half arrived, Helston Women celebrated a deserved victory and progress into the Women’s FA Cup first round where they will play Exeter City Ladies on Sunday, November 12.