Norwich City Women have moved level on points with AFC Wimbledon at the top of the FAWNL Division one South East after a 4-1 win over Chesham United on Sunday afternoon.
The game got off to a lively start as Norwich were awarded a penalty inside two minutes when Ellie Smith was brought down during one of her winding runs into the box.
In the absence of regular penalty taker Megan Todd, it was Natasha Snelling who would step up and open the scoring from the spot early on.
Chesham were restricted to few chances in the first half, trying their luck from distance on a number of occasions, but when the visitors did finally break through the defence, they were clinical.
Skipper Kat Bowers drew the visitors level with a well-taken finish in the 25th minute, against the run of play.
Norwich needed a quick response and acted accordingly.
No more than three minutes later, Katie Knights channelled some of her first-half frustrations into a wonderful curling effort into the bottom corner to restore Norwich’s lead.
This proved to be the injection that Norwich needed as the following minutes saw Alice Parker, Snelling and Millie Daviss all go close to adding a third.
In the 36th minute, the third goal finally came via an ever-dangerous Parker set-piece.
The full-back floated a lovely free-kick in from the left wing, met by the head of a rising Smith to secure the Canaries a two-goal cushion heading into the break.
The second half began in an uncannily similar fashion to the first as Norwich were awarded another penalty inside three minutes of play.
Snelling stepped up again, but this time was denied by a fine Amelia Hassan glove, who then also claimed the follow-up for good measure.
The second half offered less lively action than the first, as Martin Herdman emptied his bench to give minutes to Rachel Lawrence, Lauren Hailes, Freya Symonds and Shannon Shaw, and it was the latter pair that would combine for the hammer blow.
Shaw raced away to create a one-on-one opportunity but saw her effort brilliantly saved by Hassan. Unfortunately for the Chesham goalkeeper, the ball parried straight into the path of Symonds, who gratefully rolled it home into an empty net.
Though the game and result were out of grasp for Chesham, they finished the game well with a handful of chances. In the fifth minute of injury time, Sarah Quantrill was called into action, getting a big glove to a well-struck free-kick to secure the 4-1 victory for Norwich.
Norwich City Women will now enjoy a two-week hiatus from fixtures over the festive season before returning to action on Sunday, January 7, to face London Seaward at Oakside Stadium.
Norwich City Women: Quantrill, Parker, Flye, Daviss, Smith (Hailes 59), Snelling (Shaw 69), Larkins (Pernet 85), Knights, Tomlinson (Lawrence 53), Strauss, Kennard (Symonds 62)
Goals: Snelling (3), Knights (28), Smith (36), Symonds (80)
Chesham United: Hassa, Bebbington, Walker-Smith, Hetherington, Porter, Bowers, Koscielsky, Bloor, Fraser, T Smith, S Smith
Subs: Mabbs, Euman, Dixon, Makowoska
Attendance: 342