Southend - 0
Southend & Benfleet -7
(Goals - Kirsty Durban - 4, Ashlie Colman - 2, Sarah Conway)

In the Essex Premier division Southend & Benfleet ladies started the season with a local derby game against recently relegated Southend. New captain Kirsty Durban was adamant that her team should get off to a confident start. Southend & Benfleet immediately put the pressure on. Adele Cole took advantage of a free hit to speed up the left wing, taking the Southend defence by surprise to find Ashlie Coleman who got Southend & Benfleet on the scoresheet. With strong performances from newcomer Kendall Colman and Nicola Bryant in midfield the goals began flying in and at half-time the score was 5-0 to Southend & Benfleet. Sharp defensive work from Jodie Linge, Nina Colman, Rachel Jeffrey and youngster Natasha Cheeseman maintained a clean sheet for S&B. Ashlie Colman, voted player of the match, scored her second goal. Captain Kirsty Durban expertly scored her fourth goal from a penalty flick taking the full-time score to 7-0 to Southend & Benfleet. A promising start to the season!