Norwich City Women defeated Haywards Heath 6-1 at The Nest thanks to goals from Ellie Smith, Natasha Snelling, Megan Todd and Rachel Lawrence (3).
Norwich City welcomed 371 fans to a wet and windy Nest for their third home FAWNL game of the season on Sunday, September 17.
Norwich got off to a flying start, troubling the Hayward penalty area early on. This paid dividends inside three minutes after a Todd cross forced a handball, with the winger stepping up and dispatching the spot-kick to open the scoring.
The Canaries continued to torment the Haywards Heath 18-yard box, forcing Libby Kingshott into a number of fine stops, many stemming from set-pieces.
Todd had the better of her opponent on the right side and capitalised on the space effectively. On the 15-minute mark, she found Lawrence in the box, who set up an oncoming and free-scoring Snelling to add another to her personal tally and a second for Norwich.
Before Haywards Heath even had a chance to recover from the second goal, Norwich were at them again.
Smith was first to a rebound after Kingshott parried an effort away, as the midfielder rifled the ball into the roof of the net.
Norwich continued to compile pressure through a number of dangerous corners but couldn’t materialise any rewards.
Sarah Quantrill remained alert, dealing with a handful of manageable chances, the best of which was a one-on-one on the half-hour mark.
As the half was ending, Norwich looked to head in with a comfortable 3-0 lead, but Lawrence had other ideas. This time, it was Smith’s effort parried away by Kingshott, with Lawrence gratefully tapping into an empty net for four.
Coming out for the second half, Lawrence’s appetite for goal seemed to have amplified, and in less than a minute it was five as the winger grabbed her second.
Seven minutes later, Norwich had an opportunity for six. Smith was tumbled over in the box, resulting in a penalty. Todd, City’s usual taker, waved orders over to Lawrence for an opportunity to complete her hat trick, but Kingshott made a fine save to deny.
Lawrence’s head refused to drop, and she continued to eagerly chase her third and Norwich’s sixth.
In the 77th minute, substitute Olivia Cook provided the perfect pass to Lawrence, who lobbed the ball over the keeper to deliver the final blow.
Norwich will now take their high spirits on the road to face Actonians on Sunday, September 23.
Norwich City Women: Quantrill, Parker (Larkins 69), Flye, Todd (Cook 69), Smith (Knights 78), Snelling (Daviss 69), Hailes (Shaw 56), Morran, Tomlinson, Lawrence, Strauss
Goals: Todd (4), Snelling (16), Smith (20), Lawrence (44, 46, 77)
Haywards Heath: Kingshott, Bailey, Curran, Phelps, Young, Hambleton, Creese, Goulden, Vivas Alonso, Hurst, Bacon
Subs: Roper, Halawi, Pack, Harris-Walters, Dobson
Goals: Phelps (62)
Attendance: 307
Venue: The Nest
HT: 4-0
FT: 6-1