Five-star Ladies up to second

From the off, Rachel Till’s side showed they meant business, piling the pressure on their visitors and maintaining the majority of possession.

The hosts’ play flowed nicely thanks to some great interplay and goal number one arrived from an attacking run by Lucy Wood along the baseline.

She then slipped the ball across the face of the goal for Sarah Gibbins to round the goalkeeper and convert easily.

Gibbins then handed her side a 2-0 lead before half-time following a cross from Becky Sagar after some silky skills saw the latter beat two Lymm defenders in their circle.

Momentum was not lost after the break with ‘Gate going straight back on the attack after the resumption.

Their hard work was rewarded when Freya Wilde was fed the ball on the break with just the Lymm keeper standing between her and goal number three.

Sprinting to keep up, Wood joined Wilde in the attack and the pair were able to pass the ball around the visiting stopper with Wood then applying the finishing touch for 3-0.

A fourth came shortly afterwards when Shelly Harrison was taken out by the goalkeeper, leading to a penalty stroke.

Despite some psychological warfare from the Lymm custodian, Wood stepped up to the spot and kept her focus, powering the ball in to the back of the net.

The fifth and final goal of the day arrived on the final whistle from a short-corner where Megan Clarke hit a strike from the top of the D which took a deflection, leaving the Lymm keeper off balance and unable to get to the ball and keep it out.