Southend & Benfleet run out convincing winners in home rout

Right from the start, Southend were set on dominating the visitors and they did not have to wait long before Sarah Conway put them in front.

Kirsty Edmunds then also began to impress and took on the Maldon defence singlehandedly to earn herself a hat-trick which made it 4-0 before half time.

Southend were still buzzing after the restart and did not give Maldon a second of respite.

Nicola Bryant acted as the central lynchpin on many an occasion as Southend spread play from one side of the pitch to other, attacking Maldon’s defence from all angles.

With the precise and quick passing witnessed from all the Seasiders throughout the match, it was inevitable that Conway would slot her second goal of the match past the Maldon goalkeeper.

Moments later, Naomi Barker smashed her way onto the scoreboard with a stonking strike from the top of the D before Ashlie Colman also scored cracker of a goal.

However, player of the match Edmunds was not finished and, after assisting with several of the goals, she scored her fourth a minute after Colman’s strike to take the score to 8-0.

l Southend & Benfleet’s second side were beaten 3-2 at Waltham Forest thirds.

The game started at a very fast pace and Southend keeper Carly Belcher made two incredible saves before a quick break away resulted in the first goal of the game with Anna Winfield firing home.

However, Southend’s lead did not last long as a quick break down the right left the Seasiders exposed and led to an equaliser being scored.

Forest then took the lead from a short corner but, nine minutes later, Winfield bagged her second goal of the game to make it 2-2.

But Forest soon regained with the lead with a deflected effort before Southend came close to equalising when Claire King’s penalty flick was saved by the goalkeeper.

l Southend & Benfleet’s third team saw off Wapping’s seventh team 1-0.

Player of the match Chloe King scored the only goal of the game.