Moors Ladies roared back to form with a resounding 4-0 win over Harrogate Town at The Brewery Field on Sunday afternoon.
Having lost at Bradford City last time out, Brent Smithson’s side were keen to offer a quick response – and they did just that to brush Harrogate aside on home turf.
Moors looked determined from the off and made life difficult for their visitors in the early stages by dominating possession and pushing them onto the back foot.
That pressure paid off on 15 minutes when Amy Richardson’s corner was headed home by Becca Drinkald to put Moors into the driving seat.
However, things got a little scrappy after the opening goal and Moors were unable to bring the same fluency to their football as Harrogate rallied after conceding.
Kelly Garcia almost made it 2-0 on 38 minutes when a clever pass from Holly Doogan sent her through on goal, but the Harrogate keeper made a good save.
The away side should probably have been on level terms a minute later when they were presented with a golden chance in front of goal only for the striker to send her shot wide of Sophie Miller’s upright.
The miss proved costly because Moors grabbed their second goal on the stroke of half time when great play by debutant Eva Mysleyko down the right led to pinball in the Harrogate area before Garcia tucked the ball home for 2-0.
Moors made sure of the victory just before the hour mark when Garcia grabbed her second of the afternoon – this time she powered home a header after another incisive pass from Doogan.
Doogan herself could have made it 4-0 to Moors moments later but was denied by the Harrogate goalkeeper, while at the other end Sophie Miller stayed alert to make an excellent save to preserve the clean sheet.
The crowning moment was saved for Mysleyko who put the seal on a memorable first appearance for the Club by adding her name to the scoresheet 11 minutes from time.
“We’re very happy with the performance overall,” admitted Smithson afterwards.
“We didn’t take the opposition lightly because Harrogate have been on a good run recently and they have put in some excellent performances since the turn of the year.
“In the first 20 minutes it was a bit of an arm wrestle but in the end, we had that bit of quality, and we were clinical in the box to take our chances.”
Full Time: Moors 4 Harrogate Town 0
Moors: Miller, Knox, Drinkald, Mysleyko, White, Richardson, Bates, Doogan, Jackson, Garcia, Vasey.
Subs: Rackstraw, Elliott, Hemmingway.
Attendance: 188
