Mellors leads Ladies' charge

West Ham United ladies returned to winning ways with an impressive 3-0 win at Copsewood Coventry Ladies on Sunday afternoon.

Striker Lily Mellors headed the Hammers ahead from a Sarah McCrea cross after 19 minutes, before Vicky Kinsman doubled the visitors' lead six minutes later.

The points were wrapped up before the break when McCrea turned from provider to scorer by bursting through the Copsewood back line to slot into the back of the net.

Ladies boss Julian Dicks named an unchanged eleven that were knocked out of the Ryman Cup by Charlton Athletic just three days earlier. With a lack of fully fit defenders to choose from, Captain Stacey Little partnered Danica Revell at the back, while striker Emma Sherwood returned to the substitutes' bench after recovering from illness.

West Ham came out quickly and began looking for an early goal. McCrea and Kelly Blanchflower were causing the home defence plenty of problems with their pace on the wings, while central midfielders Zoe Lipley-Hinton and April Bowers were controlling the game from the middle of the pitch.

The visitors got themselves ahead after 19 minutes when Mellors timed her run perfectly to meet McCrea's cross and head past former West Ham goalkeeper Nikki Duncan from 12 yards out.

Shortly after, the Hammers found themselves 2-0 ahead when Kinsman sidefooted a shot perfectly into the corner of the net from 18 yards.

The Hammers kept the pressure up and they secured all three points with a third goal just minutes before the half time whistle. McCrea picked up the ball and had plenty of work to do, but she stormed through the Copsewood defence and finished well into the back of the net for her eighth goal in all competitions so far this season.

In the second half, the Hammers retained control of the match and dominated possession throughout, although they failed to punish the home side further.

The visitors had their best chance for a fourth goal on 75 minutes when Duncan made an impressive double save to deny both Kinsman and Bowers.

West Ham's victory over Copsewood on Sunday keeps them fifth in the Southern Division, with 18 points from their nine games.

The Ladies' next league fixture is a trip to the south coast to face Portsmouth Ladies on Sunday 2 November at 2pm.

West Ham United Ladies: Runnacles, King (Humphreys), Revell, Little (c), Bottom, Lipley-Hinton, Bowers, McCrea, Blanchflower (Kelly), Mellors (Sherwood), Kinsman.
Subs not used: Baxter, Masters.