Moors Ladies suffered a heavy defeat on home soil as South Shields made the most of a player advantage to run out 6-2 winners at The Brewery Field on Sunday.

Shields looked the more threatening during the opening exchanges but were kept at bay by young keeper Isabella Dixon who marked her debut with a string of excellent saves.

The youngster denied Annece Legg with a big stop on the quarter-hour mark but was powerless to stop the pacy Shields attacker from opening the scoring on 20 minutes.

Moors responded well though and they were level just two minutes later. A ball forward was flicked on into the path of Becca Drinkald who caught it on the volley and sent a wonderful shot across goal and into the bottom corner.

Parity didn’t last long because Shields were back in front on 26 minutes when Ellie White fired home from close range before Eve Gatens made it 3-1 with a brilliantly ferocious volley from 12 yards.

Things got worse for Moors five minutes before half time when Coral Colledge got involved in an altercation with a visiting player, which led to the defender being shown a straight red card.

Josie Foster hit the bar, Gatens struck a post, and Dixon made another fine save as Shields started the second half on the front foot, while Caitlin Bates almost brought Moors back into it but steered a back post header just wide.

It was 4-1 on 72 minutes when Moors failed to clear after the ball had come back off the woodwork again, but Hannah Knox restored hope on 80 minutes when her right-wing corner found its way into the net.

However, Shields nabbed a fifth just afterwards through Catalina Abusada and the attacker scored again in the final minute to wrap things up and make it 6-2.

Full Time: Moors 2 South Shields 6

Moors: Dixon, C Colledge, Knox, Drinkald, Mysleyko, White, Richardson, Bates, Doogan, Elliott, Jackson.
Subs: Sangha, McGovern, A Colledge.

Attendance: 169