Morecambe Ladies 8-2 Mossley Hill LFC

It all came after the Ladies had the worst possible start.

Two minutes into the game, goalkeeper Leanne Ashton Smith bravely diving to prevent the Mossley goalscorer picking up a rebound, and she ended up with a broken jaw and lost some teeth as the visitors took the lead.

It didn’t take long for the Ladies to get back on level terms however, Louise Gibbins flew down the left wing and fired over the Mossley keeper to make it 1-1.

New signing Lizzy Chapman then stung the Mossley keeper’s fingers with a fierce effort and Charlotte Higginson headed just over from a corner.

Hannah Paling’s cross from the right ended in a race between defender, keeper and Yasmine Swarbrick, the Morecambe striker won, tapping past the keeper to make it 2-1.

Morecambe extended their lead when a Becky Whittingham corner was headed on by Swarbrick, the keeper pushed the ball onto the bar and Mel Brown was first to react and headed home.

Debutante Chapman had another blast saved, otherwise she was content to hold the ball up and play others in.

Mossley had few attacks, shooting from range although keeper Hutton had to be on her toes to deal with Mossley’s goalscorer Amy Hughes.

Hannah Paling was then left wide open in the box, she fired home a cross and from the kick-off, Gibbins raced down the left, her low cross was met by Swarbrick and buried – two goals in a minute making the scoreline 5-1.

It wasn’t all one way traffic though, a punt forward had Mossley’s Hughes racing away and popping the ball past Hutton as the visitors pulled a goal back.

There was still time for Jade Thornhill to get forward and have a shot before Chapman bustled through and beat the luckless keeper with a lob dipping under the bar to make it 6-2.

The second half was one of complete domination with Morecambe having most of the possession. 
Mossley sat back with players behind the ball, leaving Hughes as a lone striker with Brown having the beating of her on all occasions.

It was more like a training session as the home side stroked the ball around, finding openings.

There were plenty of good efforts but it took a determined run by Swarbrick to open up the defence – she produced a great finish, burying the ball into the back of the net to give her side a seventh goal.

Large parts of the game were played in the visitors’ half as Morecambe pegged Mossley back.

They still managed to create chances though, with Charlotte Higginson latching on to a clearance, driving forward and letting loose an unstoppable shot to make the final score 8-2.