Darlington Women went second in the table with a great 4-1 win over previously unbeaten Chester-le-Street Amazons at Eastbourne.

The Amazons were brushed aside by a four goal blitz in the first half, with Ella Leach scoring a ten minute hat trick.

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “We’re absolutely delighted with the win and it was fully deserved. We knew we had to turn up and I said to the girls before the game that it was probably our biggest game of the season so far. It was difficult to take the loss against the Amazons a couple of weeks ago and we knew we needed to bounce back

“I asked for a reaction and we certainly got it. The first half performance was brilliant and they couldn’t cope with us. The result a couple of weeks ago wasn’t actually a bad performance and I feel we still controlled the game. However, the difference this week is that we were clinical and took our chances. The first goal is always crucial and we were able to build on that once we scored the opener.

“We played some lovely football and credit to the girls who came in, as we were missing a few players, others had to fill in in certain positions and they all did their role extremely well. Ella came in from the start today and took her chance, it’s not often a hat-trick is scored, never mind in the space of 10 minutes so a massive well done to Ella today as her goals essentially won us the game.

“Overall I was really pleased with the performance. I thought we attacked with intent today and got bodies forward but also defended well on the whole. We wanted to be more aggressive in our defending today and I think we set the tone from the first whistle. An all round top day from the girls.’

A very good half first half performance from Darlington saw them 4-0 up at half time. The opening goal came around 10 minutes with some great football, Lily Wilkinson went past the defender down the right hand side and a delightful chipped cross into the 6 yard box for Chloe Ryan to head home for 1-0 Darlo. 

It was 2-0 around 15 minutes later, with some good work from Nicole Graham keeping the ball alive on the edge of the box, Ella Leach took a touch out of her feet and unleashed a great strike into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance.

Two minutes later and the Amazons keeper had come out of her box to clear a ball over the top. Chloe Ryan reacted quickly for a quick throw and found Ella Leach who again took a touch out of her feet and finished well from outside the box as the Amazons keeper struggled to rush back to her goal to make it 3-0.

Just 8 minutes later and Darlo were 4-0 up. Ella Leach on the scoresheet again for a first half hat-trick in the space of just 10 minutes! Some more great work from Lily Wilkinson who ran past about 5 Amazons players on the right wing and played another good ball across the box for Ella to finish from close range to round off a fantastic, faultless first half for Darlington. 

Amazons came out in the second half fighting and had one back within the first couple of minutes. A good ball in from a corner saw the Amazons player get there first on the volley reduce the deficit to 3. Although a resolute Amazons kept going till the end and trying to force a way back into the game, the Quaker Women managed the game well, defended well, stayed compact, controlled the possession for the majority of the second half. Fresh legs from the bench kept the tempo going and the first half won Darlington the game. 

Player of the match chosen by our match sponsor (The Darl Knight) was Lily Wilkinson. Thanks to everyone for your support.

Many thanks to CLS Amazons for the game. Good luck for the rest of the season.

Here's the league table

https://fulltime.thefa.com/index.html?selectedSeason=65571865&selectedFixtureGroupAgeGroup=1&selectedDivision=371387182&selectedCompetition=0

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