Brentford Women's unbeaten run to start the London and South East Premier season continued on Sunday afternoon with a 4-1 win over Dorking Wanderers at Meadowbank Football Ground.
Abbi Smith got the Bees off to the perfect start with an early goal, Rhian Cleverly following soon after with her first Brentford goal. Second-half strikes from Ashley Cheatley and Katie Gilligan secured the three points for the west Londoners.
The game started in blistering fashion, both sides battling hard between the boxes and being forced to earn possession.
On seven minutes Cheatley broke forward down the left side of the Dorking box and crossed the ball centrally to Smith. The Bees' no.15 let the ball come across her body before firing at goal with her right foot, but her effort was wide.
A minute later, Gilligan’s well-placed ball from midfield found Smith breaking into the right side of the hosts’ box. She cut back to her left foot and looked set to score, but the shot was blocked.
Dorking pieced together their best early attack on 11 minutes as Isabelle Beaumont met a cross from the left side at the back post, but her shot was right of the target.
Three minutes later, Carly Williams’ side had the opener, Smith going one better than her earlier efforts. Maï Louvrier played a perfectly waited ball for Smith as she broke into the Dorking box, the forward making no mistake with her right foot to make it 1-0.
With the lead in hand, the Bees started to build the pressure. On 26 minutes, Millie Constantine set the ball for Smith in the middle of the hosts’ box from a corner and the forward looked to score with her right foot, but the shot faded across the goal.
The ensuing goal kick was won back by Williams’ side and the ball sat perfectly for Gilligan to shoot near the edge of the box, but her strike was wide of the target.
As the 30-minute mark approached the hosts wrestled back momentum and came close to equalising. Receiving a cut back near the goal line, Beaumont seemed destined to score, but Lucy Potter made a timely block.
A minute later, Holly Crane’s cross from the left side found Maisie Dale at the back post, but her header was over the bar.
Two minutes later the ball fell to Makeba Black in Dorking's box, with the defender immediately firing at goal. Her shot took multiple deflections before falling to Cleverly. She tapped it home but was ruled offside.
Redemption immediately came for the Brentford captain. Maddie Phillips’ corner from the left side was dropped by Dorking goalkeeper Maisie-Jane Johnson, Cleverly in the perfect spot to tap it home to double the Bees’ advantage.
On the brink of half-time, Crane looked to pull one back for the hosts as she launched at goal from outside the box, but the shot sailed over the bar.
Early in the second half, Cheatley seemed destined to score her first goal of the afternoon as she nutmegged her opponent, creating a one-vs-one against Johnson in goal for Dorking. The goalkeeper closed the space and made an important stop to keep the game at 2-0.
Johnson was called into action again just after the hour mark as Gilligan was played through by a neat Constantine pass, the goalkeeper closing the space again to make a strong save.
Dorking’s breakthrough came on 69 minutes, Cerys Spilsbury meeting a corner from the right side and heading it home to half the Bees’ advantage.
The west Londoners immediately responded and came close to scoring two minutes later. Smith’s cross from the left side bounced around inside the hosts’ box and almost snuck in, but Johnson did well to quickly dive to the goal line and secure the ball.
With 15 minutes to play, substitute Chelsie Berry looked to have an immediate impact as she played a perfectly-timed ball to Cheatley breaking through the backline, but the forward’s momentum was halted as the ball was cleared away.
The Brentford no.16 got another chance five minutes later and made no mistake. Winning the ball back near the halfway line, Cheatley streamed towards the Dorking box, finishing well past Johnson to make it 3-1.
In stoppage-time, Williams’ side put the game to bed. Berry’s superb pass from the middle of the pitch found Freya Worsley breaking into the left side of the Dorking box. The midfielder did well to create space and get by her defender, cutting the ball back to Gilligan who tapped it home from close range.
Brentford's lead at the top of the table is now five points, Williams' side holding a +16 goal difference over second-placed Bromley.
The Bees now turn their attention to Sutton United away from home next Sunday.
Dorking Wanderers: Johnson, Beaumont, Roake, Hendra, Chilver, Forde, Backhurst, Dale, Crane, Watson, Spilsbury
Subs: Slade, Olivia, Finch, Hudson-Odoi, Filer
Booked: Chilver 66, Roake 83
Brentford Women: Reeves-Priestley, Phillips (Worsley 63), Potter, Cleverly, Harris-Walters (Berry 63), Smith, Cheatley, Louvrier (McCrea 75), Gilligan, Black, Constantine (Cochrane 63)
Subs not used: Francis-Pownall
Williams: Really pleased with the win
Reaction: Carly Williams on Dorking Wanderers win
Brentford Women head coach Carly Williams spoke on her side's 4-1 win over Dorking Wanderers in the LSE Premier on Sunday.
"I'm always happy to get the win, it's obviously a venue that we know well now doing it twice in a couple of weeks. It's always a difficult place to come, Dorking give everything for the whole 90 minutes, so I'm really pleased with the win," she said.
"I challenged the players today to talk more than me. I think I still talk more than them, but we're getting there and it's a development point. We discussed controlling the game in terms of us in possession but also how can we can control it out of possession and how we can make Dorking work to create an opportunity.
"It's always difficult coming off a cup game as well, so we wanted to focus back on the league and hopefully that was a statement performance today."