Cambridge Women's 1sts put on a rampant display on Wednesday afternoon, dispatching Southampton Women's 1sts back home without a goal to their name in a 7-0 drubbing.

After a tight tie last week against Cardiff which saw the Light Blues come away with a 3-2 loss, fortunes were reversed in dramatic fashion as Cambridge lodged goal after goal without reply to gain their first win and first three points of the 2019/20 ICG South Women’s Premier season.

Southampton began proceedings by passing back and establishing a hold on the game which would see them control possession for the first five minutes. During this, the Light Blues got back in numbers and defended as a unit to ensure any chances were limited, marshalled all the while by keeper Morgause Lomas whose vocal command of the area ensured a unity of purpose all afternoon.

Although one shot slipped through an otherwise solid defensive line, Lomas was quick to action, going to ground and smothering the ball to send Southampton packing.

This was to mark the start of the rest of the game for the Light Blues, and their opponents were barely afforded a chance beyond it. 

Cambridge’s Martha Hoult managed to capitalise on this pressure, rifling a shot through a disorganised Soton defence to rack up the first goal of the game in the 5th minute.

With no intention to rest on their laurels, the Light Blues were rapidly out of the blocks again, with Number 10 Liv Shears making a breathless run from the half way line to chase a ball destined to drift out before reaching it just in time to knock it against a Southampton defender for a short corner. The resultant play saw the ball whipped in for Number 3 Izzy Montgomery, who coolly picked a gap and doubled the lead before 10 minutes.

After recommencement the Light Blues demonstrated hunger and quickly won possession again, with Number 8 Izzy Austin releasing the ball into the area for Alicia Murphy to stop and lay up Montgomery for her second and Cambridge’s third in the 12th minute.

With the Reds now on the ropes, Cambridge operated with a freedom which saw them confidently pass the ball around their own goal area. The resultant skirmishes forward did not come to fruition this time however, and Soton wrestled back control of the ball. Some determined Southampton attack yielded no fruit, and the teams went to half-time with the score at 3-0.

"Cambridge were back on the offensive soon after"

With the break over, Cambridge passed back to build against a noticeably more vocal Southampton side. This greater communication saw them gain one of few short corners of their afternoon, but an unfortunate slip by their Number 6 saw it snuffed out and sent away.

Cambridge were back on the offensive soon after. After occupying the goal area for some time, they received their reward in the form of a penalty flick, assuredly lifted into the bottom left corner by captain Amy Edwards to take the tie to 4-0.

Strong defensive play from Austin kept things under control for the home side. Back up the other end, Cambridge’s Mollie Ring-Hrubešová and Lucy Lawrence demonstrated some fantastic interplay which ended with Lawrence firing in from close range to make it 5 goals with 23 minutes of the half gone.

Lizzie Jack made athletic runs down right flank and Ekaterina Privalova performed some evasive spins to bring the ball into a dangerous position on multiple occasions.

In one of these moments, Cambridge’s Olivia Dadge performed a lovely dummy on the left-hand side of the area to send a Soton defender the wrong way before firing off a shot for the Light Blue’s sixth five minutes from time.

Going to the last, Cambridge were awarded another short corner in the dying seconds. Not content with their half dozen, Edwards received the ball on the edge of the area and was able to find another gap in the patchy Southampton defence to shoot home, doubling her own tally and finishing at 7-0 at the whistle.

Cambridge next travel to match up against Bristol 1sts in a fortnight’s time (20/11).