Jess Clarke has set her sights on making the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup final after scoring a hat-trick in Notts County’s impressive victory over Oxford United.
County, who lost in the SSE Women’s FA Cup final against Chelsea earlier this month, maintained their perfect record in the Continental Tyres Cup to move top of Group Three.
Oxford Utd 1-6 Notts Co
FA WSL Continental Cup
Armadillo Stadium
Wednesday 19 August 2015
“We want to get to the final of this competition but we can’t get too carried away with anything yet as there are plenty more games to be played,” she said.
“I was happy just to get on the scoresheet, but overall it was a great performance and we played some really good football at times.
“We could have scored a few more, but I am really happy with the result. It took us a few minutes to build our confidence and get the ball moving and try to get in behind them and as soon as we got the first goal we built on it and the confidence started flowing.”
A corner from Dani Buet struck the foot of the near post in the 12th minute and Demi Lambourne made a triple save to keep County out in the 22nd minute, denying Rachel Williams and Aileen Whelan twice before Clarke saw a shot clip the bar.
But Whelan played in Clarke for a well-taken opener and the floodgates opened.
The second arrived in the 37th minute after a good move down the left ended with Clarke setting up Williams to finish neatly at the near post.
The visitors made it 3-0 from a penalty in first half stoppage time when Clarke was tripped and she stepped up to send Lambourne the wrong way from the spot.
Clarke completed her hat-trick in the 59th minute, lobbing home after a pass from Alex Greenwood.
Lambourne punched Buet’s corner into her own net in the 63rd minute to make it 5-0 before Helen King pulled one back for Oxford with five minutes left.
But substitute Ellen White completed the rout in the 87th minute, racing through unopposed and finishing confidently.
“That was such a tiring game to play in against top quality players, but I really enjoyed it even though we lost,” said U’s defender Laura Nichol.
“The difference in standard was quite noticeable, especially towards the end.
“For the first 30 minutes it felt like quite an even game and if we’d scored then it may have been a different story, but when their goal went in they got all the momentum.
“Everyone was so pleased when we pulled one back through Helen King and it felt like a victory at that point.”
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Oxford United WFC (4-4-1-1): Demi Lambourne; Isi Meade, Sahara Osborne-Ricketts, Madison Lee (Sophie Baker 82), Laura Nichol; Lauren Allison, Lindsay Pinker, Ella Franklin-Fraiture (Rebecca Dandridge 68), Laura Low; Helen King; Destiney Toussaint
Subs not used: Hannah Cox, Rosie Lane, Katherine Nutman, Holly Pickett.
Notts County Ladies (4-4-2): Siobhan Chamberlain; Sophie Walton (Laura-Jayne O’Neill 55), Amy Turner, Laura Bassett (Alice Hassall 82), Alex Greenwood; Rachel Williams, Desi Scott, Dani Buet, Ashleigh Plumptree (Ellen White 60); Rachel Williams, Jess Clarke.
Subs not used: Carly Telford, Fern Whelan, Leanne Crichton.
Attendance: 282.
Referee: Tim Donnellan.
