South West women

DOWNEND 0

CALLINGTON FC LADIES 14

CALLINGTON Ladies travelled to Bristol to face bottom of the table Downend Flyers and came away with their biggest win in the league to date.

The immaculate 4G playing surface at Locklease Sports Centre really helped the away side assert their dominance from kick-off. Town immediately played the ball around through the fast-paced pitch and opened the scoring after just three minutes. Chloe Williams teed up Lucy Jones, who smashed a half-volley in from 12 yards.

On 10 minutes, Town doubled their lead when Amy Hemingway’s deep cross was superbly headed home by Keri-Ann Moxom. Two minutes later Eleri Griffiths sent away Williams and the rapid forward slotted the ball into the far corner.

 Callington continued their rampaging attacks and on 18 minutes it was 4-0. Adele Brown threaded a great ball to Hemingway and the winger slotted the ball under the keeper. Five minutes later Brown assisted another goal but this time for Williams to grab her second. Lucy Jones was next up to benefit from Brown’s midfield passing, as she lifted the ball over the out-rushing keeper to make it 6-0.

 The half-hour mark rolled in and Hemingway provided a cross for Williams to secure her hat-trick. The quick-fire trio of goals brings the striker to nine for the season so far, but with her work clearly done, she was substituted to allow a team-mate some valuable playing time.

Five minutes before the break Hemingway again provided a pin-point cross from the right, but this time it was Griffiths who fired in an excellent header at the near post. The scoring before half-time was not quite complete however, as there was still time for Hemingway to grab her brace, when she was played in by Tyler Matthews. Heading into the break it was 9-0.

The second half did not start much better for the home side, who were working hard but could not live with the visitors’ pace and movement. Only a minute from the restart, substitute Lisa Pearce was wiped out by the keeper and Sam Veal scored the resulting spot-kick to make it ten.

On 55 minutes Veal added another when she curled in a corner-kick straight in at the far post, a trick usually done by her team-mate Gemma Farley.

Then to Downend’s credit they had a 20 minute spell where they just about matched-up to the visitors and applied some pressure of their own. Callington were forced into some sloppy play in midfield and the home side regained some temporary confidence. Town’s stand-in keeper for the day, Kate Bourn, watched one shot fly over the bar and had to be alert off her line a couple of times, but was rarely brought into meaningful action.

Unfortunately for the home side on the 75 minute, normal play resumed with Callington once again hitting the net. Brittany Harper played a square ball to fellow substitute Kelly Phillips, before the latter curled a low shot into the far corner, beyond the reach of the keeper.

Just 60 seconds passed before it was 13-0. A long range strike from Moxom was parried by the keeper and Jodie Smith was on hand to slot home from six yards. Two minutes before the final whistle the hard-working Lisa Pearce got herself a deserved goal when she converted a driven cross from the right.

After the game Town manager Adam McPherson said: ‘Our girls loved playing on that surface and our performance reflected it. We were much more clinical in front of goal than we’ve been at times this season. We did feel a bit for our hosts who were working hard, but it was still nice for so many different players to get on the score-sheet today. For a few of them it was just-rewards for their commitment shown this season. It’s also pleasing that we head into the New Year in fourth place in the table. For our first season at this level is really positive.’

Callington Town FC ladies host second-placed Exeter City on January 6.