Grecians back to winning ways in comfortable fashion
Exeter City Ladies dispatched Gosport Borough Ladies by a comfortable 12-0 scoreline in Hampshire.They travelled to face the division’s bottom side hoping to get back to winning ways after a disappointing loss at Southampton Saints the week before.
The Grecians were also down in numbers with players unavailable – assistant manager Maxine Coupe donned the gloves in place of Carley Bray in goal, while Sophie Russell and Sophie Simpson came in for Corinne Potts and Kirsty Caunter.
However absences made little difference as they ran riot under the stewardship of former coach Chad Gribble, who stepped in as cover for Gareth Young. Exeter put Gosport on the backfoot throughout the first half and went in with an eight-goal lead, including some well-worked attacking moves.
With the game effectively out of sight after 45 minutes, the plan was to try and play football from the back. This did allow Gosport to apply more pressure and didn’t offer the Grecians much of a route to goal, so Exeter reverted to a more direct style and were rewarded with a further four goals after the break.
Helen Kukor led the goalscoring for the afternoon by finding the net six times, while Tash Knapman scored a hat-trick. Vicky Barter and Chloe Williams got one each and Gosport also added an own-goal.
It put the City Ladies team high on confidence ahead of the away fixture at Parley Sports in the third qualifying round of the FA Women’s Cup.