Workington Reds Ladies dominated against struggling hosts Sir Tom Finney FC Women and secured their second away win of the season by an impressive 6-0 margin.
Both teams started off brightly in the North West Womens Regional Division One and the early exchanges were shared equally between both sides.
However, it was the visitors that took the lead in the 17th minute when midfielder, Linzi Donaldson, fed the ball through to Hannah Geen on the right.
Geen steadied and delivered a telling ball to find Natalie Hooper backing up from the left in the box. Hooper was quick to take control and slid the ball home for the first of her two goal tally.
On 35 minutes she doubled the Reds lead after applying strong pressure to the home team’s back line as they tried to play out. Winning the ball on the edge of the area, Hooper drove in on goal and efficiently slotted her second.
Within a minute of the restart, Sir Tom were awarded a penalty for contact in the area. The Reds in- form shot stopper Laura Miller was called into action and she didn’t disappoint, diving to her right to deny a well-taken spot kick shot on goal.
The 2-0 score-line was a fair reflection of the game at the break but within four minutes the half-time score-line was doubled.
On 48, good closing on the right from Geen saw her regain possession and put in another telling delivery. On this occasion, Kacey Rodgers was rewarded for her constant running as she steadied and struck to bag her first goal for the club.
A minute later Keeley Holliday also claimed her first goal for the club. Picking the ball up 35 yards out, she shifted and lofted a strike to leave the keeper helpless and see the ball settle in the back of the net.
Geen claimed a hat-trick of assists in the 70th minute when she crossed for Chloe Henderson to head home and claim fair reward for her performance on the day.
Laura Ivison had been introduced in to action off the bench and on 72 minutes made her impact on the game. After being a constant threat on the left wing, she released a diagonal ball cutting through the home defence which found Zara Sandelands backing up from the right.
Sandelands gained control and shifted the ball past the home keeper, Rebecca Nowich, before slotting home for yet another first goal for the club.
The Reds looked to have gone seven up when a shot from a corner off Eleanor McDonald produced a superb save off Nowich. The keeper could only parry and Rodgers and centre back Naomi Foster combined to find find the back of the net. Unfortunately, the goal was adjudged to have came from an offside position and was chalked off.
The platform to create repeated attacks on the Sir Tom goal was built on an impressive defensive performance from Foster, McDonald, Ellie Ritchie, Alice Kemp and Hannah Fawkes, containing the home side to a couple of speculative chances in either half.
Eleanor McDonald was in superb form and she was rightly selected as Player of the Game for the Reds Ladies.
Manager Paul Mackenzie said after the game: “We have worked hard this week on being more positive in attacking positions and it clearly paid off in the performance today.
“It was great to see Keeley, Kacey and Zara open their accounts for us today. Nat and Chloe were rewarded for the positive impact they have had on the side this season with their goals too.
“But this was a team performance from all 15 players. The only negative was seeing Sophie Douglas leaving the action early on with a slight injury. We will she how it reacts over the next seven days as we prepare for a tough game against an in-form Penrith at Frenchfields next weekend.”
Both teams observed a minute’s applause before the game as a show of support for the family of Logan Holgate who sadly and tragically had passed away earlier this week.
The Reds Ladies have players that are extremely close to the family and who knew Logan personally and speak extremely highly of a loving and caring person.
It was extremely important for them personally that the club’s support was displayed before the game. As a club the Reds Ladies send sincere condolences to the family and friends of Logan.
