Nottingham Forest 9-0 Stourbridge
by Freya Ward at The City Ground for Impetus (8/9/24).
Forest’s squad celebrating Lyndsey Harkin’s 300th appearance for the club. Photo: NFFCWomen on X
Nottingham Forest put on another dominant performance at the City Ground to secure themselves the top spot in the FAWNL Northern Premier Division, slotting 9 goals past Stourbridge in a 9-0 victory to mark Captain, Lyndsey Harkin’s 300th appearance for the Reds.
Forest are now the only team in the league to take away the maximum 12 points from their first four fixtures- after Burnley and Rugby Borough, both dropped three points over the weekend, putting the Reds in a great position before taking on fellow title contenders Burnley next Sunday (15/09/24)..
The home side capitalised on the large pitch at the City Ground and opened up the visitor’s defence through wide play- having access to the Premier-Leauge size pitch is something that the Reds seem to be taking full advantage of this season, in both this game against Stourbridge and the first home fixture of the season against Sporting Khalsa. Forest’s game plan was clear, it was to be intense and tire out the opposition’s defence from the first kick of the ball, which is exactly what they did- finishing the first 45′ 3-0 up with goals coming from Charlie Wellings, Nat Johnson, and Mollie Green.
Forest made their already great side even better throughout the second half by utilizing their substitutions- these fresh legs really upped Forest’s intensity and allowed them to continue scoring past the visitor’s tired defence who ultimately couldn’t keep up with the constant forward runs from the likes of Mel Johnson who bagged herself a brace.
A key player for Forest was Hat Trick Hero- Sophie Domingo, the 24-year-old forward joined the club in August 2022 from rivals Derby County and has been nothing short of exceptional during her time with the team so far, scoring 25 goals in 50 appearances in Garibaldi. Domingo made history for the Reds with her Hat Trick being the first ever for Forest Women at the City Ground.
For Stourbridge, it was a tough scoreline to take, post-match the away side’s boss Aid Clements stated “We’re not fit enough” he said his team “gifted Forest goals.” Clements said he felt as though his side “did enough in the first half” to compete with the top side but ultimately their job as a club is to compete and he felt as though they didn’t do that in the second half, where Forest tripled their scoreline, ending things at a huge 9-0.
Teams: NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Batty, Harkin, N. Johnson, Longhurst, Domingo, Galloway, Wellings, Green, Thomas, Hamilton, Chandarana. Substitutes used: Manders, Olding, M. Johnson, Sims, Dungate.
STOURBRIDGE: Grimshaw, Griffiths, Hadley, Fantom, Clearkin, Clements, Joyce, Horgan, Rogers, Hood, Embley. Substitutes used: Clark, McCann-Lloyd, Howard, McIntosh, G. Rogers.
Scorers: Wellings 14′, N.Johnson 30′, Green 37′, Domingo 47′ 56′ 85′, Manders 71′, M.Johnson 83′ 88′.
Referee: Julie Kings
Attendance: 982
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