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Gornal Ladies returned to league action this weekend following an enforced three week break.
The team lined up with Dominique Mckee filling in as keeper with both keepers unavailable through injury.
Any thoughts that the team could be ‘rusty’ having been without matches were quickly dispelled as Gornal attacked straight from the kick off. Within two minutes a diagonal ball from Arrowsmith released Moore on the left wing, she took it to the bye line before crossing for Mckee to gratefully accept the tap in at the far post.

Three minutes later it should have been 2-0 as the same combination saw Mckee cut inside the defender but her left foot shot was parried out by a covering defender however no penalty was given.
The ball was then worked around from the left wing to right where Arrowsmith cut inside and unleashed a 20 yard shot which the keeper got her hand to but could only push into the net.

There followed a period where numerous chances were missed, Moore cut in from the left and blazed over the bar, Letford hit her shot straight at the keeper and Mckee just failed to get on to a through ball from Moore with the keeper smothering the danger.

The third goal arrived when a poor goal kick was collected by Brookes, she slotted the ball through to Letford who produced an emphatic finish giving the keeper no chance.

The fourth goal came from a quick throw in from Mckee finding Moore who dragged the ball back to beat her marker before chipping to the back post for Hamill-Moss to score with another tap in.

Two minutes later Gornal were 5-0 up when Fellows played the ball inside to Letford who collected the ball in her stride and a burst of speed took her past the keeper to slot the ball into the net.

Goal number six came two minutes later as Mckee received the ball from a Lewis thro in inside the Gornal half, she cut inside two Rubery players before dragging the ball back and delivering a pass to Moore 30 yards out. Moore outpaced the covering defender before unleashing a 20 yard shot which nestled in the left hand corner of the net.

Letford completed her first half hat trick with a header from a Moore corner that looped into the left hand corner of the net.
The final goal of the half came from an Arrowsmith free kick which released Hamill-Moss down the right. Her cross was met by 17 year old Abbie Walker who scored her first goal in open age football.

Half time score was 8- 0 and as well as the goals scored the other pleasing aspect was that the defensive unit of C Brookes, captain Byatt, Green and Lewis (later replaced by Walker) restricted the Rubery attack to just a few long range efforts, none of which were on target.
The half time team talk was fairly straightforward, to score more goals and keep a clean sheet.

Second half began with Rubery kicking off. The Rubery defence was playing a high line which Gornal immediately worked upon. Within the first minute the ball was won by Hamill-Moss in midfield, laying it off to Linney who released Fellows on the right wing. Fellows took the pass in her stride before firing a low right foot shot from the edge of the area which the keeper collected. Straight from the keepers kick Hamill-Moss headed the ball out wide to Fellows who beat her covering defender before unleashing her shot from a similar position but this time caught it cleanly and the ball beat the keeper going in just under the angle of post and bar making it 9-0 to Gornal.

Shortly after Arrowsmith collected the ball from the keepers goal kick, she lofted a pass over the defence for Mckeeto run on to, taking the ball to the bye line and crossing for Letford to volley into the net from close range.

Again Gornal pressed immediately from the kick off with Linney releasing Letford who played the ball to Fellows but unfortunately she leaned back and again the ball cleared the crossbar.

Next a free kick from Byatt was prevented from going out of play by Fellows, she played the ball inside for Letford to shoot into the side netting. Another attack this time down the left saw Mckee again take the ball to the bye line before crossing for the waiting Letford but her downward header was pushed onto the post by the Rubery keeper and she then fell on the rebounding ball.

The offside trap continued to frustrate Gornal and numerous times the Gornal attackers failed to look across their line moving for the through pass too early. Gornal managed to get more chances playing from deeper positions and attacking with pace down both wings but still managed to miss a number of guilt edged chances.

Eventually Gornal managed to score again, a poor Rubery pass went straight to A Brookes, she played it down the line for Letford to run onto and she outpaced the covering defender before firing a shot low underneath the diving goal keeper giving Letford her 5th goal and Gornals 11th.

The next goal came straight from a Rubery attack. Byatt dispossessed a Rubery attacker and played the ball back to stand in goal keeper Dominique Mckee who found Arrowsmith in midfield. She turned provided a 20 yard defense splitting pass for Letford to run on to and she powered into the area before blasting past the keeper to give her a second hat trick of the game and her 25th goal in eight matches.

Straight from the kick off Rubery gave the ball to the Gornal keeper who tried to replicate the same pass as initiated the move for the previous goal this time finding defender Lewis in an advanced position. Lewis turned her defender and sprinted a full 30 yards before shooting low but the Rubery keeper managed to push the ball round the post.

Again Fellows was played in on the right but this time her rising shot was pushed onto the crossbar by the keeper.

The final Gornal goal came from a pinpoint Moore corner delivery headed in by C Brookes, possibly the smallest player on the pitch, from the six yard line.

The final score was Gornal 13 Rubery 0. As per the half time instructions Rubery did not manage a shot in the second half, maintaining a clean sheet whilst disappointingly only 5 goals were added to the half time score despite managing to carve out a large number of chances. This was in part due to some excellent saves by the Rubery keeper.

Gornal will again be at home this coming Sunday, 29th when they entertain Coleshill Ladies. Kick off 2:00 pm.