Guthlaxton College 16 – 0 Archbishop Ilsley

Scorers: H. Stuart 4, T. Copp 3, R. Smith 3, K. Butlin 2, J. McLaurin 2, A. Woodford 2

Guthlaxton made their way into the third round of the National Cup with an emphatic 16-0 win over Archbishop Ilseys School from Birmingham.

Guthlaxton made their intentions clear from the start, attacking straight from the kick off. Within 3 minutes, Guthlaxton took the lead. A great run on the right from player of the match Heather Stuart allowed her to burst through the defence and slot the ball past the goalkeeper with ease. Just 5 minutes later, Guthlaxton doubled their lead when an inch perfect through ball from Tammy Copp found Rheo Smith, who unchallenged, played the ball easily into the bottom corner. Two minutes later, Stuart got her second of the game with a weaving run past the Archbishop defenders and finishing coolly from the same spot.

By this point, Archbishop were looking beaten, leaving little work for the Guthlaxton back four and goalkeeper.

On 17 minutes, Smith doubled her tally, with a fantastic right footed volley from 25 yards out, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. Stuart then bagged her hat-trick after just 20 minutes. An outstanding diagonal ball from Abbey Wells found Stuart and left her with little work to do to make the score 5-0. 6 minutes later, Stuart turned provider, crossing a ball to Smith who neatly finished her hat-trick. With Guthlaxton’s confidence building minute by minute, it was only a matter of time before they increased the score. Eventually, after some poor defending, the ball fell to Kayleigh Butlin who drove the ball past the stranded keeper. Guthlaxton then had a number of corners, putting more pressure on the Archbishop defence. Guthlaxton capitalised on this, with Jade McLaurin stretching past the Archbishop defender to increase the score to 8-0. The final goal of the half fell to Stuart, who again after another weaving run, cut into the box and scored her forth of the game, making the score at half time 9-0.

Guthlaxton started the same way they finished the first half by piling the pressure on Archbishop. This was rewarded with a corner, in which Butlin profited, taking the score into double figures. Guthlaxton were now making the most of having the big advantage, playing some beautiful passing football and keeping the ball for long periods of time. 16 minutes into the second half, McLaurin scored her second of the game with a trademark drive from 35 yards out. A minute later Copp finally scored a well deserved goal. A back pass gave Guthlaxton a free kick, yards from goal and a clever move was finished by Copp blasting the ball past the Archbishop defence. Copp then scored again, latching onto a through ball from Megan Burnside, beating the offside trap and effortlessly finished. With changes to the team being made, Amy Woodford came off the bench to score with her first touch. Wells’ cross was met by Woodford on the edge of the box who volley into the bottom corner. Within minutes, Woodford scored her second, another volley this time into the top corner. The final goal came from Tammy Copp as she completed her hat trick. Copp beat two players and easily finished, making it 16-0. The score could have been higher with Burnside hitting the post with seconds to go.

A solid performance by the girls and they are deserving of their place in the third round.

Team:

Z.Cook, O.Crowe, N.Connor, J.McLaurin, A.Wells, H.Stuart, A.Thorpe, T.Copp, M.Burnside, K.Butlin, R.Smith (capt), M.Downes, A.Woodford, K.Reynolds, L.Morris

Published on Tuesday 6th October 2009 at 09:00