Torquay United Women 12
AFC St Austell Ladies 0
Thumping win sees United go second
Torquay United moved to within two points of the top of the South West Regional Women’s Premier League, with a comprehensive thrashing of AFC St Austell, in testing conditions at Devon FA Headquarters.
Any chance the Cornish side might have had of disrupting their hosts and giving United cause for concern was undone from the outset, as Torquay started on the front foot and had effectively killed the game off inside twenty minutes.
In Tee Kaptein’s absence, boss Lee Mann gave Lexie Watts the opportunity to excel once again in the attacking midfield role, and it gave United another effective weapon in their relentless pursuit of goals on an increasingly wet afternoon.
Torquay’s first goal, though fortuitous, was dispatched with little fuss by Ellie Bishop, seizing onto a heavy defensive touch from a St Austell goal kick to fire home from inside the area with less than three minutes gone.
Sam Burnham’s pin-point free kick from the right, expertly headed down and back across St Austell keeper, Millicent Williams made it two on 11 minutes, and Watts poked home the third from fifteen yards out, the beneficiary of another defensive ricochet.
St Austell tried to counter but Lucy Grose and Megan Boulter were too far away from the rest of their side, and were fed little to work with, while at the back, Louella Heaslip was outstanding, regularly stopping the roving Lucy Solloway, and Emily Elliot down the right flank.
Solloway notched her first of the afternoon stroking home into an empty net just before the half-hour after Elliot poked her the ball amidst a collision between a retreating defender and the outcoming keeper. Bishop added her second barely ninety seconds later, selling the St Austell defender a dummy and then using her pace to accelerate through the left channel to fire home.
Five quickly became seven before the break, as Elliot went from provider to scorer, again twice in quick succession. First, she cut inside from the right flank to slot a left-footed finish past Williams, and moments later rounded the St Austell keeper to make it 7-0 at the break.
The visitors came out fired up after the interval, and had more possession in the second half, as United utilised their full substitutes bench, but it was still deep into that second period, before Jasmine Read had a serious save to make. United’s clean sheet was almost undone by their own error though, a rare slip and with defender and keeper resigned to United conceding – Read will have been relieved to see the ball rebound off the inside of her post and to safety!
By then though, one of four half time substitutes, Chloe Williams, had sent in a low ball for Solloway to tap home her second of the afternoon and United’s eighth. Rebecca McMullin announced her return to the Torquay ranks with a yellow card. The terrier-like midfielder booked five minutes after her introduction for a fierce, and unfair, tackle on a St Austell midfielder.
Goal number nine came just before the hour mark, McMullin not giving up a lost cause and cutting the ball back from the bye-line for Williams to convert. Solloway’s hat-trick took Torquay’s haul into double figures driving home off the keeper’s feet, just after the mid-point of the second half, with Bishop and McMullin instrumental in the build-up.
United continued to revolve the personnel and it wasn’t until the final couple of minutes that they further extended their lead. Again, it was chasing a lost cause, this time Watts not giving up the ball on the goal line and her cut-back was smashed home by Natascha Bevan. Still time before the final whistle for Elliot to bag her hat-trick, threaded in by Mc Mullin for a sublime chipped finish over Williams to round off United’s dozen.
Plenty of game time for all, some well worked goals and a dominant performance which increases United’s goal supremacy, if and when they can claw those couple of points back on leaders, Forest Green Rovers Women.
Next week, league action takes a break as United host Royal Wooton Bassett Town Ladies in the 3rd qualifying round of the FA Cup, that game at The Rec in Newton Abbot.
Torquay United: 24. Jas Read, 2. Lucy Palmer, 5. Sam Burnham, 14. Kaitlyn Harris, 12. Tash Bevan, 6. Adele Brown, 7. Tracey Cross © 16. Lexie Watts, 3, Emily Elliot, 15. Ellie Bishop, 9. Lucy Solloway Substitutes: 4. Alex Sheppard, 10. Rebecca McMullin, 11. Chloe Williams, 13. Rachel Heron, 19. Millie Scully
Joint Players Of The Match: Lucy Solloway / Emily Elliot