Watford Ladies were no match for Reading as they continued their fine form with a 4-0 FA WSL Cup night at Adams Park on Tuesday.

The Royals opened the scoring early on as Fara Williams latched on to a Lauren Bruton pass to slot home past Frances Kitching.

Reading continued to dominate the first period with Anna Green and Kirsty Linnett proving too hot to handle for the Watford defence.

Williams went from scorer to provider as she supplied the ball for Molly Bartrip to score with an excellent header on the stroke of half time.

“For us it about playing a top WSL1 side, to get the fundamentals in and try and play how we want to play.

“We struggled in the first half but then we grew into the game as you saw in the second half,” Watford defender Kylie McCarthy said of the loss.

“We had a couple of chances where we could have scored, credit to Reading, they took their chances, if we’d had finished ours it may have been a different game.

“Looking at the way Reading played, the tempo of play, they are full time, that’s where we aspire to be at, that’s what we are working towards.

“We are coming along very nicely, and next season it may be an opportunity for us to train full time and be at that level. They were a lot faster and a lot sharper.”

Reading’s dominance continued into the second half with Linnett missing a chance to make it three, finding the net soon after – only for the opportunity to be ruled offside.

Half-time substitute Brooke Chaplen drilled multiple efforts wide from close range as Reading looked to kill the tie off, before the Royals’ third arrived in the 67th minute as Linnett’s hard work was finally rewarded with a goal.

Rachel Furness nearly added to the tally but saw her looping header hit the crossbar, whilst Linnett could have added to her own collection late on.

But the fourth goal of the game did come late on after a goalmouth scramble ensued following a corner, with the ball subsequently bundled home by Chaplen.

There was almost time for a fifth too, but the home side were unable to profit from ping-pong in the Watford box.