United 9
(Pengelly 1′, 5′, 15′, 43′, Franchi 34′, 66′ Thomas 26′, 45′, Barker 74′ pen)
Bishops Lydeard 0
For the second weekend running, United put Bishops Lydeard to the sword, as the league leaders secured another important win on Sunday afternoon at The Rec.
Following the news that title rivals Forest Green Rovers had dropped two points in a 2-2 draw at Gloucester 24 hours earlier, United were determined to press home a psychological advantage with a win over the league’s bottom side – and it didn’t take long before they were on course.
In fact, just 25 seconds were on the clock when Lucy Palmer picked up on a mistake in the visiting backline before feeding Connie Pengelly, who slotted home with trademark ease to make it 1-0.
Four minutes later, the lead was doubled, and it was Pengelly who struck again.
This time a half-cleared corner prompted the finish, with the United striker well-placed to head home from close-range.
A hat-trick wasn’t far away.
In the 15th minute another chance fell Connie’s way, with even a tight angle not enough to stop Pengelly firing the ball into the net.
It wasn’t just The Gulls’ No.10 who was enjoying herself at the Rec, with United’s next two goals coming from Roxy Thomas and Matlida Franchi.
The four goal came from a familiar source, as Roxy Thomas’ excellent corner saw the ball curl straight over the goal line on 26 minutes, before another simple finish from Franchi eight minutes later saw Torquay make it 5-0 just past the half-hour.
Pengelly was back on the scoresheet before the break though, tapping into an empty net with two minutes of the first half remaining, before Thomas struck again, as she sent a curling free-kick into the net for No.7 just before the interval.
There was, mercifully for the Somerset-based side, some let-up after the restart.
It wasn’t until the 66th minute that the yellows broke free again, with Franchi netting her second – and her team’s eighth – with a confident finish from inside the box.
Goal number nine came after Beth Everson was illegally felled inside the box, with substitute Jas Barker showing absolutely no mercy from the spot, as she drilled home the penalty to surpass last weekend’s 8-0 victory.
The scoring ended there, but there’s no let-up in the title charge for Ryan Perks’ side, with their next assignment being a trip to Saltash next weekend.
UNITED: 1. Esme Bradley, 2. Lucy Palmer (c), 3. Roxy Thomas, 6. Matilda Franchi, 8. Kaitlyn Bell, 9. Beth Everson, 10. Connie Pengelly, 15. Georgie Knott, 16. Jess Geach, 20. Tee Kaptein, 29. Mollie Taylor.
SUBS: 13. Ellie Mitchell (GK), 14. Jasmine Barker, 19. Rebecca McMullin, 26. Ella Pawley, 27. Skye MacDonald-Brown
