Finally, after two games cancelled due to the recent flooding, the weather came through with a beautiful day for football and the Cambridge women's team were ready to play. Having received exemption into the First Round of the 2001 Women's F.A. Cup by their promotion into the Southeast Combination league this year, the Blues were matched up against Belper Town LFC, a team at the top of the Unison East Midlands Premier League and who had made it through the first and second qualifying F.A. rounds. Cambridge knew they would be challenged, but came out well prepared to defend their home ground. The welcome return of strikers Amanda Wainwright and Charlotte Cope, both previously injured, added strength and confidence to the Cambridge side, though also necessitated some line-up transitions. In particular, the team switched to a 4-3-3 formation and as an accompanying change shifted Sarah Wood and Laura Paine from their previous attacking positions into defence, locations new to both but places where they quickly fit in well and both made excellent contributions throughout the game.

From the beginning, Cambridge looked the more skilled team and largely controlled the ball, with key players Sarah Ambrose and Catherine Ashman continuing their usual pressure in midfield, but the team overall was unfortunately unable to find the back of the net. Their opponents, in turn, only reached the Cambridge defensive end three times in the first half. However, one of these instances led to a Belper Town corner kick and subsequent score, and at the end of the first 45 minutes Belper Town was in the lead 1-0.

This was not the position that the Blues had envisioned for themselves. However, inspired by a rousing halftime speech from coach Pete Dyer, the Blues went back out and were able to provide an equaliser on a rebound shot by Christina Atchison. Though Belper Town threatened on a couple of occasions, the back line led by captain Susan Rea and overseen by goal keeper Sarah Barber continued to hold strong and no further goals were allowed, sending the game to two 15-minute periods of extra time.

After regulation, there was no way that Cambridge was giving in. Although they had specifically practiced penalty shots the day before for the possibility of a tight match, no one wanted to see the game come down to such a pressure situation, and luckily there was no need. Charlotte Cope soon scored the winning goal for the Blues in the first extra time period, and the Blues continued to attack, keeping their opponents on their heels. Hilary Soderland made her presence known as well shortly after entering the game in the second half of extra time, providing further insurance by connecting with a lovely Laura Pugsley cross to seal the victory at 3-1 in favour of Cambridge. As the referee's final whistle sounded, the Cambridge supporters came out to join the team in celebrations on the field.

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