As Ripon lined up with three in defence it was clear that they were expecting an attacking start from Scotton, and that is just what they got. The team pushed forward, passing well and finding players in space. It was not long before Chloe found herself with her first good chance and she finished cool-as-you-like to open the scoring 1-0.
The second came very soon after when Chloe was found by Grace with a lovely long pass over the top of the Ripon defence, Chloe took the ball in her stride and shot across the 'keeper into the bottom corner 2-0.
Scotton were in the ascendancy and took the opportunity to make changes, bringing Jes and Eloise on in midfield and Georgina on to replace Molly. All three slotted in very well with both Jes and Eloise catching the eye with their attacking play and Eloise in particular for her tackling. The Scorchers continued to press forward and won a couple of successive corners. As one was on the right side Chloe came across to take it and found the Ripon defence napping, leaving Emily free wide on the right, Chloe's corner was perfect, and Emily's rocket shot was just as good, leaving the keeper with no chance 3-0 at half time.
In the second half Ripon unfortunately had to replace their injured goal keeper but Scotton carried on where they left off and continued to press forward. Honor, who had made a great contribution in midfield in the first half, swapped with Sam and other players also switched positions, with Molly playing in midfield and then later as striker, Jes continued to press forward on the left and Sam showed energy and determination as she also played in midfield and striker. But it was the pairing of Chloe and Emily that caused Ripon with the most problems and very early in the second half Chloe completed her hat-trick with another accurate shot which left the 'keeper with very little chance 4-0.
Emily was not in the mood to be left out and when Chloe put in a great through ball Emily, with just the keeper to beat, used the pace on the ball to casually tip the ball past the advancing 'keeper with the outside of her foot 5-0.
Emily and Chloe were then both substituted, giving Grace and Sam the opportunity to play up front, and their partnership was to produce yet another goal. From a corner on the right, Sam drove the ball across the face of goal and Grace stuck a foot out (or was it a knee?) to deflect the ball past the unlucky replacement 'keeper 6-0.
As the game started to draw to a close, substitutions were made and with just a few minutes left Chloe, who had just come back on, played a lovely ball into Emily from the right, Emily put her head down and made every effort to reach the cross, sliding in to get a toe on the ball to make it 7-0.
Emily and Chloe then swapped places with Georgina and Lowenna to give the side an upside down look. But Lowenna and Georgina enjoyed their new role, supported by a lively midfield and a frustrated defence! Chloe was eager to keep pushing forward and when Ripon sat back and space opened up in front of Chloe, she needed no second invitation, running the whole length of the pitch and shooting powerfully past the keeper to top off a player of the match winning performance 8-0.
This was a great performance by all the girls and continues our fantastic form in 2011. Well done to you all.
