England Women coasted through their first World Cup qualifier, beating Malta 8-0 at Bloomfield Road on Sunday evening.
A Fara Williams hat-trick, a brace for Jess Clarke and strikes from Faye White, Emily Westwood and Rachel Unitt were enough to secure the points on a blustery evening on the Lancashire coast.
It was a game dominated from start to finish by the hosts and it was perhaps no surprise to see such a scoreline given that Malta came into the game on the back of a 13-0 loss against Spain.
England are next in action against Turkey in their next qualifier in November.
England
1 Karen Bardsley, 2 Alex Scott, 3 Rachel Unitt, 4 Dani Buet, 5 Faye White (C) (15 Lindsay Johnson, 59), 6 Laura Bassett, 7 Jess Clarke, 8 Jill Scott, 9 Lianne Sanderson (18 Jody Handley, 53) 10 Fara Williams (17 Emily Westwood, 68), 11 Sue Smith
Substitutes not used: 12. Katie Chapman, 13 Rachel Brown, 14 Casey Stoney, 16 Eniola Aluko
Malta
1 Sharon Costantino, 4 Natasha Pace, 5 Rebecca Dagostino (C), 6 Dorianne Theuma, 7 Ylenia Carabott, 8 Rachel Cushieri, 9 Rebecca Chircop (11 Kathleen Saliba, 64) 10 Catherine Camilleri (2 Marisa Deguara, 51)13 Mandy Debono (3 Chantal Marie French, 85), 14 Kimberly Parnis, 16 Charlene Zammit
Substitutes not used: Michelle Nicole Zahra, 15 Corissa Vella White, 17 Maria Azzopardi, 18 Emma Xuerreb.
Bookings: Rebecca Chircop 18, Ylenia Carabott 30, Natasha Pace 55 and 57
It was a game dominated from start to finish by the hosts and it was perhaps no surprise to see such a scoreline given that Malta came into the game on the back of a 13-0 loss against Spain.
England are next in action against Turkey in their next qualifier in November.
England
1 Karen Bardsley, 2 Alex Scott, 3 Rachel Unitt, 4 Dani Buet, 5 Faye White (C) (15 Lindsay Johnson, 59), 6 Laura Bassett, 7 Jess Clarke, 8 Jill Scott, 9 Lianne Sanderson (18 Jody Handley, 53) 10 Fara Williams (17 Emily Westwood, 68), 11 Sue Smith
Substitutes not used: 12. Katie Chapman, 13 Rachel Brown, 14 Casey Stoney, 16 Eniola Aluko
Malta
1 Sharon Costantino, 4 Natasha Pace, 5 Rebecca Dagostino (C), 6 Dorianne Theuma, 7 Ylenia Carabott, 8 Rachel Cushieri, 9 Rebecca Chircop (11 Kathleen Saliba, 64) 10 Catherine Camilleri (2 Marisa Deguara, 51)13 Mandy Debono (3 Chantal Marie French, 85), 14 Kimberly Parnis, 16 Charlene Zammit
Substitutes not used: Michelle Nicole Zahra, 15 Corissa Vella White, 17 Maria Azzopardi, 18 Emma Xuerreb.
Bookings: Rebecca Chircop 18, Ylenia Carabott 30, Natasha Pace 55 and 57
Attendance: 3681
Information courtesy of the Football Association
