Old Southendian 1s – 0
Southend and Benfleet 1s – 7

Local teams clash this week as Southend and Benfleet 1s travelled down the road to face off against the struggling Old Southendian 1s who are yet to win a game and sit bottom of the table. S&B showed no mercy though and came out of the gates swinging, with play stuck firmly in the D of the home side from the outset it wasn’t long before Kirsty Edmunds reverse stick flick wrong footed the goalie to give S&B the lead early in the first half. Edmunds was on fire and assisted Caitlin Meredith who smashed the ball into the back of the Old Southendian goal to bag the second goal of the game. Captain Rachel Jeffery and Jodie Linge kept the pressure on the home side as they shut down the Old Southendian’s attacks and turned the ball back towards the home side’s goal, where Sarah Conway was waiting to add to the increasing tally of goals for S&B. The goals kept coming as Meredith grabbed her second goal and Edmunds finished off the first half as she took on the keeper and came out with the fifth goal of the game.

On the restart, Old Southendian’s did well to hold off S&B’s constant attacks and managed to launch a few of their own but some great marking from Hayley Middleton and a few timely saves from S&B goalie Lisa Hawkins kept S&B’s scoreboard clear. It was well into the second half when Edmunds claimed a further assist as she found Nicola Bryant on the far post, who knocked it expertly into the back of the goal. Nicola Coleman and Adele Cole worked tirelessly up the left wing, closing down on the sporadic assaults from the home team whilst blasting the ball back up the pitch to the waiting S&B forwards. Linge pushed forward and assisted Ashlie Colman to find the back of the goal late into the second half to make the score 7-0 to S&B at the final whistle, with Player of the match being awarded to Jodie Linge.

This week’s win sees S&B overtake Havering to go top of the Premier League on goal difference, promising a crucial showdown as these top two teams face each other next Saturday.