National League round-up
League Cup
Crawley Wasps booked their place in the quarter finals by winning 4-0 away to Southampton Women. Naomi Cole, Emma Plewa, Natasha Stephens and Iesha Swaby all scored a goal apiece to take Crawley through.
Northern Premier Division
Fylde Women have returned to the top of the Northern Premier Division with a 6-1 victory over Middlesbrough. Jess Holbrook gave Fylde a fifth minute lead which was cancelled out by Jessica Foster, but Faye McCoy ensured that the Coasters were back in front in first half injury time. McCoy scored her second on the hour and after Jodie Redgrave netted twice in quick succession, Melanie Bartley rounded off the scoring with the final goal late on.
Burnley FC Women have leapt up into third place, after they also won 6-1 against Sheffield FC. Dominique Cooper and Courtney Willis each scored twice for the Clarets, whose other goals came from Sarah Greenhalgh and Evie Priestley, whilst Sheffield netted a consolation goal through Abbygayle Hodkin.
Huddersfield Town follow on in fourth, they moved above Nottingham Forest after winning their meeting 2-1. Laura Elford and Serena Fletcher put Town two goals ahead at half time, with Rebecca Anderson pulling one back for Forest in the dying minutes.
The meeting between the two teams at the foot of the table resulted in a 3-1 win for Loughborough Lightning away to Hull City. Liberty Bott did give Hull a fourth minute lead but Loughborough hit back with an equaliser from Abbie Benstead and second half goals from Harriet Petley and Ella Powell earned them their second league win of the season and moved them closer towards climbing out of the bottom three.
Southern Premier Division
Ipswich Town got back to winning ways and maintained their lead of six points with a nine-goal victory against Hounslow Women. Natasha Thomas led the scoring with a four-goal haul, Maddie Biggs and Abbie Lafayette each weighed in with doubles and Paige Peake was also on target.
Oxford Utd kept hold of second place by winning 2-0 against Cardiff City Ladies. Beth Lumsden took her league tally for the season to twelve as she scored a goal in each half to maintain the U's title challenge.
Southampton FC Women returned from Milton Keynes Dons with a 1-0 victory under their belts for their tenth win in eleven matches. Ella Pusey scored the only goal of the game for the Saints, midway through the second half.
London Bees consolidated themselves in mid-table as they scored five times without reply away to Chichester & Selsey. The first half was goalless but after the break, Lauren Heria broke the deadlock for the Bees and Jo Wilson netted a brace, with further goals coming from Jade Bell and Millie Constantine.
Plymouth Argyle meanwhile continued their revival by beating fourth placed Portsmouth 2-1. Beth Ireland gave Argyle a sixth minute lead and after Jazmin Younger equalised for Pompey, Plymouth captain Zoe Cunningham settled matters by scoring what proved to be the winner from the penalty spot.
Division One North
Newcastle Utd continue to close in on leaders Liverpool Feds and are two points behind after winning 3-0 away to Barnsley. Katie Barker, Georgia Gibson and Erin Nelson were all on the scoresheet for Newcastle as they stepped up their title challenge.
FC United of Manchester and Stockport County remain level on points after their meeting ended in a 2-2 draw. All of the goals came in the first half with Lauryn Wood and Ashleigh Hayes on target for FC United, and Stockport netting through Hanifa Douglas and Maria Figueiredo.
The points were also shared at Chorley where the home side's match with Chester-le-Street Town finished goalless, the fourth time in eight matches that Chorley have drawn, and an important point for the Cestrians as they bid to climb out of the bottom three.
Division One Midlands
Doncaster Rovers Belles head the table by five points after they won 1-0 against Wem Town. Jasmine Saxton scored the only goal of the game for the Belles during the first half.
Long Eaton Utd have moved up into second place following their 3-2 victory over Solihull Moors. Tiana Hicks netted twice for Long Eaton and Anya-Mae Cresswell added the other, with Solihull replying through Tiana Russell-Cartwright and Jessica Lowe.
Leek Town ran out 5-0 winners over Bedworth Utd to consolidate themselves in fifth with a second straight win. Katie Maya spearheaded the win for Leek by hitting a first half hat-trick and they went on to add further goals after the break from Paris O'Connor and Chantelle Gallagher.
Division One South East
On Wednesday night, the top of table clash went the way of Hashtag Utd who defeated Billericay Town 2-1 to open up a four point lead at the top. Katherine Nutman scored a late winner for the Tags to add to Malika Apindia Gille's earlier goal, while previously unbeaten Billericay had responded through a powerful strike from Logan O'Shea.
Actonians Ladies stay in third place despite not having the best of weeks, going down to two defeats. On Sunday they were beaten 2-1 by Kent Football Utd, two Hannah Cleary goals giving the home side their first league win of the season, with Samaira Khan replying. In midweek, Actonians lost 2-1 again, this time to Queen's Park Rangers. Melanie Hall gave Rangers a lead which was cancelled out by Ashleigh Ward, but a late 30-yard strike from Katie Akerman decided matters in QPR's favour.
In contrast, AFC Wimbledon enjoyed two away wins to narrow the gap on the top three. Ashlee Hincks and Megan Stow scored to give them a 2-1 success at Enfield Town, who replied through Mollie Kmita, and then a double from Hincks saw them to a 2-0 victory over London Seaward.
Queen's Park Rangers also won two games in a row over the past week, having returned from London Seaward on Sunday with a 1-0 victory under their belts, Demi Edwards scoring the only goal of the game in first half injury time.
The other Wednesday night game ended with honours even with Cambridge City and Stevenage Women battling out a goalless draw.
Division One South West
AFC Bournemouth closed the gap on leaders Cheltenham Town to two points with a 2-0 victory away to Chesham Utd. Lucy Cooper gave Bournemouth the lead on the quarter hour, with Katie James adding the other goal after the break.
The other game produced something of a surprise result as Exeter City's great run of form was brought to a halt by a 1-0 home defeat to Maidenhead Utd. Simone O'Brien netted the game's only goal to take Maidenhead up into fourth place.
Reserve Section round-up...
Sian Gibrill-Keating, Sharone Buckle, Macy Ellis and Falone Sumaili were all on the scoresheet as Northern Division leaders Huddersfield Town won 4-1 away to Brighouse Town. They stay two points in front of Chorley who defeated Hull City 5-1, thanks to a goal apiece from Ruby D'Arcy, Chloe Drury, Jessica Gillin, Daisy Mason and Tanisha Newton. Stockport County replaced Liverpool Feds in fourth place after winning their meeting 2-1, Megan Bradley and Lucy Unwin scoring, whilst Durham Cestria scored seven times without reply against Barnsley, Rebecca Henderson netting a brace along with Rebecca Bell, Bethany Enguita, Mia Gibbon and Aimee Plender. Olivia Fox (2), Katie Astle (2) and Molly Lunn accounted for the goals as Leeds Utd won 5-2 against Bradford City.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have powered ten points clear at the top of the Midland Division, Chantelle Teare scoring six times and Harriett Wellings adding a further four in their win at Bedworth Utd. Grace Gregory weighed in with a hat-trick and the tally was completed by Dani Staley (2), Beth Grady and Daisy Wickett. A late goal from Philippa Cassidy gave Loughborough Lightning a 1-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles, which takes them level on points with second placed Nottingham Forest, whilst West Bromwich Albion won 2-1 at Lincoln City thanks to Annabel Sime and Rameyah Farquharson. Molly Thompson was on target for Sporting Khalsa as they shared a 1-1 draw with Solihull Moors, who replied through Emelia Funnell.
Mia Cruickshank scored a hat-trick and Jessica Collyer contributed a further two as West Ham Utd moved into third place in the South East Division with a 9-1 victory away to Stevenage Women.
Charlton Athletic further extended their lead in the South Central Division to seven points when beating London Bees 3-0 in the top of the table clash, Honor Norton netting twice and Tiffany Balfour adding the other. Defeat for the Bees means that Crystal Palace had the opportunity to replace them in second, which they took by winning 2-1 away to London Seaward. Millie Mwandha had given the home side a first half lead but after the break, Alexandre-Sarah Bokotshi and Ella-Mai Coutts both scored to turn the match in Palace's favour. Abby Delves, Khyri McKenzie and Chloe Gibney all scored twice, along with Megan Shepherd and Rochelle Mayne, as AFC Wimbledon won 8-3 at Crawley Wasps.
One match was played in the South West Division, the top of the table match between Southampton FC Women and Bridgwater Utd, which saw the Saints win 3-0 to open up a lead of twelve points. Sky Bedwell netted twice for the Saints, with Emilie Castagna also on the scoresheet.
