Town Women victorious at home
- Town Women beat Stoke City 5-1
- Goals from Kate Mallin (x2), Brittany Sanderson (x2) and Serena Fletcher
- First home league win of season
Huddersfield Town Women move up to sixth in the league following an emphatic 5-1 win over Stoke City Women in a dominant display by the Terriers at the Stafflex Arena.
Two goals from Kate Mallin, two goals from Brittany Sanderson, and a goal from Serena Fletcher were the difference that secured the three points.
Mallin opened the scoring on 12 minutes as she received the ball from Sanderson's chip shot that rebounded off the bar.
Ten minutes later, in the 22nd minute, Sanderson would get her first of the game, and sixth of the season, as the ball was crossed in from the left-wing with her header going past the Stoke goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
The Terriers weren’t done there - in what was a commanding first-half performance. Just after the half-hour mark Sanderson bagged her second of the game, as she latched onto the end of a pass by Beth Ibbotson in front of goal to make it 3-0.
However, Stoke City pulled a goal back in the 36th minute when Nuala Miszkiel scored from a rebounded shot after Bethan Davies made a great save.
It was more of the same from the Terriers in the second half as their control on the game continued.
A couple of mistakes at the back from the Stoke defence allowed Huddersfield Town Women to grab a fourth goal of the afternoon. A great run by Katie Stanley had Stoke at sixes and sevens at the back allowing her ball across the box to be netted by Fletcher – her first goal of the season.
Mallin then grabbed her second of the game as she got onto a ball played over the top of the Stoke defence by Fletcher. She sidestepped the approaching Elizabeth Craven to make it 5-1.
Sanderson almost bagged herself a hat-trick! However, after doing all the hard work, she saw her effort cannon back off the bar, with Mallin shooting wide from the rebound.
The final moments of the game played out, seeing Town Women walk away 5-1 winners.
A delighted Terriers Manager, Steve Appleton, was pleased with the performance.
"We had a game plan and for 90 minutes we stuck to it.
“We made life difficult for Stoke and to be fair it could have been a lot more".
Huddersfield Town Women are back in action on Thursday 7 October when they travel to face Sheffield FC.
Match updates and ticketing information will be available over on Twitter, via @HTAFCWomen.
