A quick-fire fourteen minute hat-trick from Northern Premier Women's League Golden Boot holder Jackie Pretswell put the skids on North Force at McFetridge Park on May 17, as Claudelands Rovers romped to a 5-1 win at the expense of the bottom-placed team in the competition. Straight from the outset, Rovers were on the attack, captain Sarah McLaughlin setting the tone with a rasping thirty-yarder which flew narrowly wide after just twenty seconds. The resulting goal-kick was a poor one, and was mercilessly punished by Claudelands, who opened the scoring inside the first sixty seconds. McLaughlin swooped on the wayward clearance and instantly slipped Anne Ormrod through a static defence which screamed for offside, and continued to do so as play continued. Ormrod made a bee-line for the by-line before stroking a low cross into the path of Pretswell, who calmly picked her spot while North Force defenders failed to play to the whistle. The Northlanders responded instantly, led by attacking duo Hannah Wilkinson and Katie Rood, both of whom caught the eye throughout proceedings with their willing running and tireless efforts for the cause. On this occasion, Wilkinson did well to secure possession in midfield and promptly fed Rood, who spread play wide to Katie Mullinger and dashed towards the near post for the return. Charlotte Wood anticipated the threat, and after thwarting it, launched the attack from which Rovers notched their second goal, just four minutes into play. It was a lovely team goal, with almost the entire Claudelands line-up playing a part in an interchange of passes which featured key contributions from McLaughlin, Kate Loye and Katherine Robinson, before Pretswell darted in off the left flank and placed her shot beyond Raiquel Te Puni and into the far corner of the net - 2-0. Rovers were rampant at this point, and were keen to take full advantage of North Force's distress. They were all at sea defensively, and somehow survived a barrage of shots in the next ten minutes which could have signalled a rout. Te Puni tipped a Loye shot round the post, then tipped a McLaughlin shot onto the crossbar, the rebound of which was turned home by Holly Patterson, only for the offside flag to deny Rovers this sixth minute goal. North Force's overworked goalkeeper then frustrated both McLaughlin and Robinson in quick succession, before fumbling Ormrod's fourteenth minute corner. McLaughlin calmly controlled the loose ball and steered it back into Pretswell's path … 3-0, an unerring finish through the gathered throngs from twenty yards. Still Rovers pressed, Ormrod and Pretswell denied in quick succession by Te Puni as North Force struggled to keep their rampant rivals at bay. But the wind gradually began to abate from Claudelands' sail, much to the relief of their opponents, for whom Rood went close in the nineteenth minute after catching Kate Carlton in possession on the edge of her penalty area. Wood came to Rovers' rescue on this occasion, and did so again on the half-hour as Wilkinson was sent clear by Nikki Couling, an action which prompted Rovers' coach Dave Edmondson to let rip at his defenders for their sloppy play. And with justification aplenty, for Rovers had let their initial standards slip, and in truth, they struggled to recover them. Certainly, they continued to seek more goals, with Te Puni thwarting Ormrod and Pretswell - somehow in the 26th minute, after Loye and Patterson had combined to good effect. But they lacked the snap, crackle and pop of their opening fifteen minute spell, despite Loye's best efforts to recapture that impetus. She worked a one-two with McLaughlin which saw the latter smack a twenty-yarder narrowly past the post on the half-hour mark, just prior to North Force's best move of the match to this point. Tina Yendell combined with Wilkinson, who evaded a challenge before feeding Rachel Porter. One beaten challenger later, she sent a sizzling drive careering narrowly past Wood's right-hand post, the hoardings behind the goal reverberating with a resounding thump as the ball crashed into them. That sparked Rovers into life again, albeit briefly. But in that time, they extended their advantage to 4-0. Pretswell raced through in the 32nd minute, and Te Puni was very fortunate not to make contact with the striker as she charged in vain out of her penalty area. The sight of an untended net prompted Pretswell to pull the trigger on the angle, but the retreating figure of Kelsey Evans ensured North Force would survive on this occasion. Rovers didn't have long to wait to celebrate another goal, however. The resulting corner was cleared as far as Loye, who wisely played in Patterson on the

right. Her cross was cleared to McLaughlin on the edge of the penalty area, from where she let fly. Te Puni had the shot covered, but a vicious deflection left the 'keeper standing by one corner of the net while the ball nestled in the other - 4-0. Once again, Claudelands went off the boil. This time, they were punished for doing so in the minutes before half-time. Wood and Nikki Wenzlick got themselves in a right old tangle as Rood caught them unawares five minutes before the break, and while the Rovers' duo survived on this occasion, fortune favoured Force three minutes later. Again, Rood was at the heart of the opportunity, dashing clear of Rovers' rearguard on receipt of a pass from Wilkinson. Wood dashed out to block the striker's effort, but the Junior Ferns goalkeeper was powerless to prevent Wilkinson driving home the rebound, due reward for the willing work of Force's frontrunners in the face of adversity. Any hopes North Force harboured of making further in-roads into the contest were dashed five minutes into the second half, when once again their defence - captain Sandi Burleigh particularly - howled in vain for an offside decision in their favour. Robinson sent Pretswell scampering through the offside trap, and she rounded Te Puni - never before has this writer seen a goalkeeper so reluctant to dive at an opponent's feet! - before picking out the fast-arriving Ormrod on the far post with a measured cross from the by-line. The twice-capped New Zealand international celebrated gleefully. Rovers continued to press, with McLaughlin rattling the hoardings from twenty-five yards, Burleigh clearing a Pretswell shot after substitute Tiffany Kawana-Waugh had played the hat-trick heroine through, an Wenzlick heading a pinpoint McLaughlin corner narrowly over the crossbar before the hour mark. McLaughlin and Ormrod then fired narrowly wide from distance before the former sent Robinson racing through, only for the winger to see her shot tipped to safety by Te Puni. In the midst of all these efforts, North Force mounted a raid which, inevitably, featured Rood. Down the left she dashed, as Rovers beat a hasty retreat in pursuit of the striker, who whipped in a cross for Couling as she raced up in support in the penalty area. She never got the chance to turn the ball home, however, as the mature-beyond-her-years Kylie Jens denied her opponent with a last-gasp full-stretch tackle, six minutes before Estelle Harrison sent a shot fizzing wide of Wood's posts after teaming up with Wilkinson. After the offside flag had come to North Force's rescue again eighteen minutes from time - Ormrod was the guilty party, although it was Yendell who got the final touch, the Northlanders were denied a stonewall penalty in the 74th minute. Rood was up to her tricks again, twisting and turning twixt two opponents before looking to work a one-two with Wilkinson. Carlton's handling of the situation - literally - made that a non-event, however, but referee Jan-Hendrik Hintz wasn't having a bar of any penalty claims, however justified they appeared from other angles around the ground. Robinson, with a shot over the top after good work by Pretswell, and Wilkinson, with a snapshot on the turn after Rood and Harrison had caused Claudelands problems, went close soon afterwards, while nine minutes from time, Rood's fine run saw her evade two challenges before she was closed down by three opponents, but even then she managed to unleash a shot in anger which deflected to safety off Nicole Stratford. Pretswell squandered a great chance to make it 6-1 when Te Puni's reluctance to dive at her feet was again revealed seven minutes from time, and while Wilkinson and Harrison both went close before the final whistle, both Ormrod and McLaughlin should have altered the scoreline in stoppage time, but were guilty of firing wide of an unguarded net with Te Puni in no man's land. 5-1 was Rovers' lot, however, one with which they should not be satisfied, given their firecracker start which saw them race to a three-goal lead inside fourteen minutes. Their lack of ruthlessness was countered by the character North Force, with Rood and Wilkinson leading by example, showed in battling back from that awful opening spell to at least keep the scoreline respectable. North Force:     Te Puni; Hemara (Tunstall, 64), Evans, Burleigh, Yendell; Mullinger (Green, 64), Porter, Harrison, Couling (Baker, 68); Rood, Wilkinson Claudelands:     Wood; Stratford, Carlton, Wenzlick, Jens; Patterson (O'Connell, 67), Loye (Kawana-Waugh, 56), McLaughlin, Robinson; Ormrod, Pretswell (Cross, 84) Referee:     Jan-Hendrik Hintz