Lowestoft Town Ladies welcomed Brentwood Town to the Crown Meadow and what a difference one week of dry weather had made to the pitch, which was now in much better shape.

Lowestoft were on the front foot from the off, eager to try and get the opening goal and did not have to wait too long when the irrepressible Zoe Cossey cut in off of the left wing and beat two players before finding the top left hand corner with a rasping shot from the edge of the area after twelve minutes.
Brentwood to their credit were trying to play football from the back and were happy to sit deep and play on the counter attack and it took a while for Lowestoft to best figure out a way to break them down. Natasha Thomas came closest with a couple of excellent efforts which narrowly failed to find the net.
However, the second goal eventually came for the blues on twenty-nine minutes when a speculative long range effort from Chloe Hoffman beat the Brentwood keeper, who was deceived by the bounce. Hannah Waters added a third for Lowestoft eight minutes before half time, showing great tenacity to shrug off two challenges and to leave Lowestoft well in control at the break.

Another fine solo goal was scored by Anna Larkins on fifty-seven minutes with a run from the half way line which took her past three opponents, before hitting an unstoppable shot which nestled in the right hand corner of the net for 4-0.
The fifth goal of the day and without doubt one of the goals of the season then came from Broghan Scully, who hit a free kick from fully forty yards out which dipped underneath the top right hand corner of the goal. It was a fantastic goal and a truly outstanding individual effort.
The sixth and final goal for Lowestoft was another which was born out of determination and tenacity and went to Megan Cletheroe, who had been rock solid at centre back all afternoon and fully deserved a goal for her excellent contribution.

Player of the Match was awarded to Natasha Thomas who worked tirelessly in midfield and who saw a number of efforts either well saved or narrowly miss the target. Special mention also goes to Jody Wells who deputised in goal and showed that there are not many better goal keepers around, despite not playing in this position very often.
Also mention to Marcie Prettyman who has added to her defensive qualities by showing an increased willingness to get forward and support the attack. Finally a well done to Paige Baker who is a player with a fantastic attitude and on a couple of occasions came so close to scoring her first home goal for the blues.

This Sunday sees the Lowestoft Ladies playing in the semi-final of the Suffolk County Cup against Ipswich Town FC. The game will take place at Woodbridge Town FC. Kick off 2.30pm.

David Eastwood