Real Bedford Ladies prevailed in a back-and-forth affair at Barking
The Pirates make it 10 wins from 10 games in the league after a tight first half against the Barking.
The game started with a bang as Chloe Martin scored her first goal of the afternoon within 5 minutes. After picking up the ball on the left flank, the wing-back searched for an inviting cross that curled past the keeper and into the back of the net.
Barking equalied within 2 minutes after breaking quickly with a
fast counter-attack.
The rampant opening continued as Tasha Fensome got herself on the score sheet. After being put through by Martin, the striker added to her already impressive tally of goals with a chip over the keeper, making it 19 goals in just 14 games.
A miscommunication at the back led to The Pirates conceding another goal soon after, making the score 2-2 after just 20 minutes.
Chloe Martin contributed her second goal of the day seconds later with an audacious effort from range glancing the underside of the crossbar to restore the visitor's lead. Martin then completed an incredible hat-trick 10 minutes later after a perfect Gemma Croucher pass found the teenager in open space, allowing Martin to smash home an incredible goal into the top right to complete a 30-minute hat trick.
Barking managed to pull one back straight off the restart to keep Bedford on their toes before another good pass from Croucher found Cesca Partridge up the other end of the field. The striker made no mistake to restore The Pirate's two-goal lead heading into the break.
Second Half
The second half proved more one-sided than the first, with the visitors bagging four unanswered goals over the 45 minutes. Quick thinking from Tasha Fensome off a throw-in early on put Croucher down the by-line. The midfielder chipped the keeper from a tight angle to make it six goals early in the second half.
Chloe Martin then rounded off an impeccable performance with a fourth goal at the hour mark. A pin-point delivery from Zara Carroll off a wide free-kick found Martin in the area. The wing-back headed it home in style.
Five minutes later, Tasha Fensome had her brace. After a good ball from Partridge put Fensome in space, the clinical striker made no mistake, dispatching the ball into the Barking net with some comfort.
The final goal would fall to substitute Lauren Coppin in the dying embers of the game. After fellow substitute Neve Mayes had her shot saved by the Barking keeper, Coppin followed up with an opportunistic strike into a relatively vacant net to push the tally to 9 with seconds left on the clock.
Real Bedford now face AFC Dunstable in the next round of the league cup away from home next Sunday.
Barking Women 3 - 9 Real Bedford
3rd December, 2023
Kick-off: 2:30pm
Location: Mayesbrook Park
