Watched by a crowd of 142 at Saffron Walden Town FC, Kay Foy started the ball rolling for Frontiers with her finish inside the first minute of the match, and she would go on to grab a hat-trick as the Church Langley-based outfit lifted the trophy at the end of their inaugural season. Kelly Holsworth netted twice, with Hayley King, Emma Best and Jill Bartholomew also making the score sheet in an 8-0 win.
Frontiers made an incredible start with two goals in the opening couple of minutes, as Hayley King’s cross was spilled by Clare Pearson and Kay Foy tapped into the net. before returning the favour with King rifling into the roof of the net.
We played Chelmsford a couple of weeks ago, so a lot of things were fresh in our minds,” Frontiers manager Ronnie Yates explained. “We stuck to the plan and we wanted to press high early. The girls did exactly what we asked, they pressed them and we got the reward for it.”
On 26 minutes Kelly Holsworth’s raking through ball was met by Foy, who had sprinted past Dawn Barnard to chip the ball over Pearson and within 4 minutes Holsworth’s cross deceived found its way into the top corner.
Ten minutes before half time, Foy completed her treble, nodding on Emma Best’s chipped pass down the middle to hook the ball over her shoulder and into the net.
A spirited Chelmsford team came out fighting in the second period, and they carved out an opening straight after the restart when Daisy Dobbs embarked on a lengthy solo run and picked out Emily Kendle, who curled over the crossbar from 6 yards out.
But on 64 minutes Jill Bartholomew forced a goal-line clearance and the ball ricocheted around the penalty area before Best slammed in number six.
Four minutes later a Holsworth cross looped over everyone and settled inside the right-hand post and, in the 71st minute, Bartholomew side-footed into the goal from 10 yards out following good work by Shannon Hardinges.
Yates concluded: “I knew what kind of players I had and, looking at the competition, I thought we’d have a good chance. They are a great bunch of girls and the quality is superb. We’ve got a League Cup quarter-final next week, we’re unbeaten in the league and we’re still in the Maldon & Tiptree Charity Competition as well, so we’re fighting on three fronts. We’ll be playing until the end of May, but we’ve got a big squad and we’ll be ready to go again.”
Photos – Mikey Cartwright / Essexfa.com
