Peterborough United Women Under 23s secured an impressive 9-0 win against Barnsley Women FC Development in the FA Women’s National League Reserves Midlands Division.
Posh found an early breakthrough as Rebecca MEARS’ strike from the edge of the box found the bottom corner to beat keeper.
Minutes later, Posh doubled their lead when Barnsley's defender headed down a corner-ball towards Georgie OLIVER who tapped the ball home to claim the second of the day.
The goals kept coming for Posh after Melissa Riley played a superb ball from her own half to set MEARS through on goal, who made no mistake and converted across goal to get her second of the match.
The fourth goal came when Alicia Podd played a ball to OLIVER on the right wing where she carried the ball around the defender into the box, beating the goalkeeper at the near post to get her brace.
PODD scored the final goal of the half after she received the ball on the edge of the box and took it through the defensive line to find the back of the net from inside the box.
Posh continued to dominate in the second-half as OLIVER was able to complete her hat-trick as she charged into the box and managed slot home across goal from a tight angle.
MEARS secured her hat-trick from inside the box where her powerful strike found the top corner, far from the keeper's reach.
Eve CRAGG made her first appearance for the Under 23s on Sunday after impressing for the Under 16s. She marked her debut with a goal, dispossessing the defender on the edge of the box and making a surging run towards goal where, from a tight angle, she buried the ball into the back of the net.
Posh’s impressive performance was capped off by OLIVER who scored her fourth goal of the day; her shot was drilled down low across the box and into the bottom corner.
Manager Michael Allsebrook spoke about his side’s performance: “Overall I am really pleased with our display today. In horrific conditions there’s always a risk that the game becomes scrappy and a bit of a leveller but the speed that we moved the ball and our quality in 1v1 duels meant that we negated that and dominated the game. Looking back, we had pretty much all of the meaningful possession and territory, forcing them to play on breaks and long balls over the top. That’s never easy to do, particularly away from home but it shows how well we performed in all areas of the game today."
“To score nine goals in the manner we have is extremely impressive from the players. We have been working hard on playing across the pitch and getting players in nice pockets of space to do that and to be rewarded is very pleasing. Their keeper made some really good saves too so on another day we may have ended up with a couple more. Even more pleasing is another clean sheet. The press from the front unit and the work rate in midfield set the tone but I also need to give credit to the back four, who dealt with Barnsley’s threat really well."
“Today was a really good day and one that I hope gives us confidence going into the last three games. These girls always represent the football club with both pride and passion so the aim is to continue putting in complete performances like today, particularly as the challenges continue to get tougher.”
Posh: Holloway, G.Smith, Richards-Reeves, Abrantes, Riley, Biggadike, Mears, Podd, T.Smith, Oliver, Cragg, Iyawa.
Half-Time: Barnsley Women FC Development 0-5 Peterborough United Women Under 23s
Full-Time: Barnsley Women FC Development 0-9 Peterborough United Women Under 23s
Photo credit: Keira Thurston