Southend & Benfleet 2s - 17
University of Essex 2s - 0

(Goals: Anna Winfield 5, Lesley Tonking 5, Liz Fry 3, Isobelle Williams 1, Kerry Payton 1, Alison Riley 1, Bridget Newlove 1)

After last week’s hard fought win at Romford, S&B welcomed bottom of the table University of Essex 2s to The King Edmund School, & it would turn out to be a record breaking win for the 2s, as they ran out 17.0 winners, the highest ever victory in S&B’s history!! After picking up their first win of the season the week before, U of E turned up in good spirits, despite only having 8 players, & to their credit, never let their heads go down.

The first half started as expected, with S&B dominating possession & getting some early shots in to test the keeper. Lesley Tonking was first on the score sheet, & that was quickly added to by Isobelle Williams, who is turning out to be somewhat of a goal machine this season!! Anna Winfield got her first goal in three games, & Liz Fry, playing up front for the first time, scored her first for the club with a poachers finish from the left post to make it four. S&B attacks were relentless, & the rotating defence of Michelle Arnold, Anne Johnson, Sam Kinnell & Lisa Hockley were camped on the half way line, breaking down the very few attacks U of E managed to mount. Breaks down both wings from Jo Chesters & Kerry Payton were causing all sorts of trouble for the visitors defence, & it wasn’t long before Winfield got her second, &, not to be outdone, Tonking added her second & S&B’s sixth of the half. A combination of Alison Riley, Katie Adcock & Bridget Newlove took turns to run things in the middle, dictating the play and using the vast amount of space to create chances for the forwards. Next to hit the backboard was Liz Fry for her second, & the first half rout was finished off with a hat-trick for Winfield.

It took S&B a little while to break through after the restart, but just like the first half, Tonking started the flurry, completing her hat-trick. Katie Adcock came within a whisker of getting her first goal for the club, but it was Winfield who was next to score, grabbing her fourth, before captain Payton got herself a goal. Despite being under a constant onslaught, the U of E defence did make some crucial tackles & the keeper pulled off a fantastic save from a Winfield short. But their best efforts were in vain, as S&B continued to press forward, & Tonking scored her fourth, before Winfield got her fifth. Tonking then got goal number five for herself, before Riley got her first of the game from a short corner, which was also S&B’s fifteenth, equalling the record from last season. And it was Bridget Newlove who deservedly got the record breaker, after another tireless performance in midfield, before the scoring was finished off by forward Fry, who claimed her hat-trick, although she didn’t seem to know too much about it!! It could easily have been more, but no-one was complaining at the final whistle, even poor keeper Carly Winfield, who’s only contact with the ball was retrieving it from the corner of the pitch!!

Player of the match went to Lesley Tonking, but the real hero of the day was Jo Hall, who gave up the opportunity to play to umpire for us, otherwise we would’ve ended up with a 5.0 win!! We owe you big time sick-note!