FA Women’s Premier League South East Division 1 Haringey Borough 0 Ipswich Town 10 Ipswich Town Ladies moved up to second in the table with an emphatic 10-0 win away to bottom-of-the-league Haringey Borough, who had earlier been reduced to ten women, at Coles Park Stadium on Sunday.
Five goals from top scorer Natasha Thomas, a brace for Zoe Cossey and goals from Amanda Crump, Miagh Downey and Sophie Welton sees the Blues cut the gap at the top to leaders AFC Wimbledon, to 13 points.
Town took the lead after 14 minutes when Thomas turned on half-way, raced past three defenders and rounded Haringey keeper’ Talisha Hickson, tapping into an open net. Cossey then doubled the Blues’ advantage as she came up with a trademark goal, cutting in from the left hand side and firing into the top right corner from just outside the area. Cossey would grab her second goal just six minutes later as Cassie Craddock produced a lovely turn on the D and slotted the ball in to the Town winger, who fired across goal with her left foot and found the back of the net with the help of the far post. The North Londoners’ miserable afternoon would get worse as they were reduced to ten women when Julia Carruthers was dismissed for dissent, following multiple warnings from the referee.
Thomas would then notch her second of the game five minutes from the break as she followed up at the second attempt, after her initial close range effort was bravely blocked by Hickson.
It took Thomas just six minutes after the restart to confirm her hat-trick as she caught Karla Parker in possession, burst through on goal and once again showed great composure to round the stranded Hickson, and tuck into an open net. Thomas then turned provider as she cut the ball back for the arriving Crump, with the skipper tapping in unchallenged from 2 yards.
The Blues then started a rapid goal rush, scoring 3 goals in 3 minutes. First, Thomas netted her fourth of the afternoon, reacting quickest to Hickson spilling a cross, and punished the home side with a neat finish into the bottom corner.
Next, substitute Downey scored for the fourth game in succession, beating her defender inside the area and smashing the ball home at the near post. Welton then capped off the scintillating spell, with the winger alert to follow up the rebound, after Downey had forced Hickson into an exceptional one-handed save.
Thomas completed the rout with her fifth of the afternoon, heading home from Crump’s left wing cross, for her 20th goal of the season. The Tractor Girls now leapfrog Leyton Orient into 2nd place, with their next game taking place this Sunday at home to fourth-placed MK Dons, at the Goldstar Ground, Felixstowe, in what is expected to be the biggest game of the season so far for the Blues.
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