Billericay Town’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup adventure ended at Oxford United, but the Blues have certainly laid the foundation following another battling performance.

They contributed to an entertaining third-round tie at Oxford City FC’s Court Place Farm ground, where goals from Carly Johns and Daisy McLachlan handed the home side a two-goal advantage.

Georgie Morton’s clever lob eluded U’s stopper, Rose Kite, to reduce the deficit but there was to be no repeat of Billericay’s stunning success over Ipswich Town a week previous.

Emily Allen adding a spectacular third for Oxford to kill off the contest, breaking Billericay hearts and denying them the chance to come up against Charlton Athletic.

Elsewhere, Billericay Town’s under-23s sealed a comfortable 3-0 victory over FC Holland in the Len Cordell Memorial Cup.

Goals from Marlon Stratford, Maximilian Gnandi and Nyan Mesuria sealed the victory for the Blues to get them off to a strong start in the cup competition, being played to remember former Redbridge and Essex Senior League secretary Len Cordell.

Stratford opened the scoring in the 11th minute to give the Blues youngsters a 1-0 lead heading into the half-time break.

And two minutes into the second half Gnandi doubled their lead from a free-kick, before Mesuria round off the scoring with a brilliant finish from the edge of the box in 70th minute as they cruised to victory.

It's a trip to Clacton on Saturday for the Under-23s as they play their second group stage fixture of the Len Cordell Memorial Cup (1pm kick-off).

Elsewhere, first-team manager Kevin Watson continues to get his business done early as he tied down George Wind for the 2021-22 season.

The youngster, who has previously played for Bowers & Pitsea, forced his way into the team last season during the period when Billericay were forced to furlough a number of the first-team squad.

Watson, and Wind himself, will now be hoping he can make an impact at the National League South level regularly.