BRISTOL, Feb 12 (SW) - Bristol Academy have a good record in the cup in recent years but this season's run came to an end at the quarterfinal stage on an exceptionally heavy pitch against Premier challengers Charlton Athletic.

With the muddy conditions at the Crossham Street ground, passing and ball control were going to be issues for both sides. As a result the long pass forward was going to be the order of the day. However Bristol started well and pushing good balls forward. Katie Ward sent over a cross which was met by Shelly Cox, but her shot was blocked. Charlton then won a corner after ten minutes when a good run by Eni Aluko got her in on goal but her shot was deflected for a corner. The resulting corner kick found Jo Potter in the area but her snap shot was deflected off Maria Bertelli. As the half went on however both teams were being increasingly bogged down. However on the half hour Katie Chapman latched on to lose play in midfield and launched a high ball into the area which went through to the advancing Bristol keeper Siobhan Chamberland. Unfortunately she failed to hold the ball and it broke clear into the path of Maria Bertelli who also struggled to control the ball but eventually got a foot round it to send it into the open goal. More than making up for being in the wrong place earlier.

Bristol tried to get back into the Charlton end of the field and towards the end of the half a move forward was cut out by Karen Mills who punted forward to be intercepted by Shelly Cox. Her pass back to the keeper however, slowed up in the mud and spun to a halt just inside the penalty area. Jo Potter following in, managed to take the ball off the toes of the keeper and slot it into the net before Chamberland could recover the situation.

Early into the second half and another long ball from deep in the Charlton half found England International Amanda Barr who side stepped Kath Morgan in defence before slipping a pass into the path of Eni Aluko who slotted in a fine shot from just inside the area. Soon after however Aluko pulled up in what seemed to be a hamstring injury. A disappointment for Charlton considering the important league matches still to come. Her replacement Sarah Snare however made a good impact on the game hustling the Bristol defence. A ball from Bertelli was taken by Barr on the right which she took down the flank to the bye line. Snare by this time had made her way into the penalty area and was well placed to send Potter's low cross curling away from the outstretched Chamberland. As the match came to a close Charlton brought on more substitutions replacing Potter and Chapman and introducing Faye Cardin and Eartha Pond. On 77 minutes Snare found herself out on the left but managed to wriggle past two defenders to slip a pass to Eartha Pond. She took the ball to the edge of the area before sending over a high cross, which eluded everyone including the Bristol keeper and Amanda Barr before bouncing into the net. In the end it was a convincing result which takes Charlton through to the semis. They could meet Liverpool who won a dramatic penalty kick shoot out with Newcastle or Leeds Utd who went past Birmingham City in a 3-1 win. The Chelsea - Arsenal match was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

Bristol Academy – Charlton Athletic 0-5 (0-2)

Referee: Wendy Toms, Attendance: 300

Goalscorers: 32. Maria Bertelli 0-1, 43. Jo Potter 0-2, 52. Eniola Aluko 0-3, 64. Sarah Snare 0-4, 76. Eartha Pond 0-5