Moors Ladies got back to winning ways in style on Sunday afternoon with a big NERWFL Premier Division win over Alnwick Town at The Brewery Field.
The 4-1 triumph saw them leapfrog their visitors to move fifth in the table and they now sit just a couple of points behind joint leaders Thornaby and Ponteland United.
Nikita Hemmingway’s side got out of the blocks quickly and could have been in front inside four minutes when Sophie Hodgson took aim but saw her effort saved.
Alnwick then settled into the game and got on top, forcing the ball into the Moors net on 12 minutes only to see it ruled out for offside.
Lucy McIntosh fired a shot on target for Moors which was well saved before home keeper Philippa Hunter produced some heroics to prevent the visitors going in front.
The deadlock was broken midway through the first half when Holly Doogan seized on some hesitant play at the back from Alnwick and then sent a wonderful finish past the keeper to make it 1-0.
It got even better for Moors just before the half-hour mark when Jenny Priestley marked her debut with a debut goal, smashing home the loose ball after Alnwick failed to deal with Amy Richardson’s dangerous left-wing corner.
Hunter had to make another great save to deny an Alnwick forward who had stormed through one-on-one, before Moors had a goal chalked off from a corner when the officials adjudged that the delivery in had drifted out of play.
Moors thought they had made it 3-0 just before the break when Doogan once again found the net, but after a long period of discussion, the officials once again ruled out the strike.
Alnwick gave themselves hope of a comeback nine minutes into the second half when a great strike from Sophie Greener brought the game back to 2-1.
However, Moors responded well and came mightily close to scoring a third when Alnwick somehow survived a massive goalmouth scramble on the hour.
It was 3-1 on 67 minutes though – and it was some goal too. Sophie White-Mellish let fly with a ferocious strike from the edge of the box which clattered off the underside of the bar on its way into the net.
Hemmingway’s side were now oozing confidence and that was underlined on 76 minutes when a ball over the top freed Hodgson who showed fantastic composure to slalom round the goalkeeper to tap in a fourth goal.
It could even have been 5-1 right at the end when Moors threatened from a corner, but the ball cannoned back off the post and Alnwick were able to clear.
“It was a fantastic performance, and the girls are understandably delighted,” said Hemmingway afterwards.
“Alnwick are one of the stronger teams in the division so to put on a display like that and score four goals is extremely satisfying, especially after the last couple of results.
“We’ve shown the kind of standards we’re able to reach so now it’s just down to us all to make sure we’re consistently at that level and see where it takes us in the league.”
Full Time: Moors 4 Alnwick Town 1
Moors: Hunter, A Elliott, M Elliott, McIntosh, Hodgson, White-Mellish, Richardson, Hemmingway, Doogan, Priestley, Robinson.
Subs: Drinkald, Smith, Norton, Garcia, Zapata.