Beechfield United Ladies played their first home game on a grass pitch since early in November 2015 and thanks to a superb all-round performance were able to celebrate a 4-0 win over Little Lever Sports Club.
Straight from the kick off Beechy were on the attack and opened the scoring in the seventh minute courtesy of Debbie Wright.
For the next thirty minutes United kept pushing forward and put their opponents under more pressure as they searched for a fully deserved second goal.
Little Lever relied heavily on their goalkeeper but when the visitors produced any worthwhile attacks they found a Beechy defence superbly marshalled by Vicky Kerr and Sue Howard hard to break down.
United eventually went 2-0 up in the last minute of the first half when Lauren O’Neil brought the ball out of a defensive position and played a pass forward to Sophie Wainwright who took the ball towards the corner flag but while the other players expected her to cross the ball Sophie suddenly at an angle raced towards the Little Lever penalty area.
The visitors keeper appeared to have covered the near post area but Sophie supplied a stunning finish when she hammered the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net.
The second half kicked-off with both teams playing some highly attractive football as they worked hard to get control of this Division 1 match.
Some of Beechy’s passing moves were a joy to watch and United’s third goal arrived via a through ball down the central area of the pitch which was controlled by Debbie Wright who showed great composure as she fired the ball past the on rushing keeper.
Following a brief stoppage the visitors were forced to replace their keeper due to an injury prior to Beechy getting their fourth goal.
Player of the Match Vicky Kerr started a move with a perfectly weighted pass to Faye Cassidy who forced her way down the left flank and moved the ball onto Sophie Wainwright who brought it under control spun round and fired it through a mass of players into the net.
With just a few minutes left to play Little Lever launched a quick counter-attack and at the end of the move were awarded a penalty but the spot-kick was hit wide of the left hand post.
Beechy Ladies squad on the day was : Rachel Howarth, Lauren O’Neil, Sue Howard, Samantha Smith, Rebecca Watkins, Gillian Wallis, Vicky Kerr, Charlotte Foley, Emily Walmsley, Sophie Wainwright, Debbie Wright, Faye Cassidy, Aimee Dalton, Gemma Ottiwell.
