London Bees collected all three points after an outstanding 8-2 victory over AFC Sudbury at The Bees Stadium.
The London Bees came out with intent on Sunday, controlling possession early and quickly settling into their rhythm at The Bees Stadium.
Lily Whitelock made her presence known from the outset, darting down the left flank and swinging in a dangerous cross that immediately put the Sudbury defence under pressure.
However, it wasn’t long before the Bees opened the scoring.
A cross into the box saw the Sudbury goalkeeper push the ball away, only for it to fall to Megan Burrows.
Calm and composed, she skipped past a defender and slotted it into the bottom corner to give the Bees a well-deserved lead.
Just two minutes later, the Bees struck again.
Mira Hoteit found Brionne Fowle, who slipped a perfectly weighted pass through to Whitelock, where she put in a low-driven ball across the face of goal, which was met by Sam Lanza, who tucked it away to double the lead.
The momentum stayed with the Bees as they continued to dominate.
Midway through the first half, a well-delivered corner was flicked on by Cheyenne Flynn into the path of Fowle, who made no mistake from close range to make it 3-0.
Minutes later, another corner fell into the Bees favour, this time Aria Heil got on the end of it, slotting home at the near post to extend the Bees’ advantage even further.
With half-time approaching, Shamoy Campbell burst down the right wing, outpacing the full backs before delivering a pinpoint cross for Betty Larkin to tap in from close range, becoming the fifth different scorer of the half.
Half-Time: London Bees 5-0 AFC Sudbury
Sudbury came out with more urgency after the break, looking to pull one back.
A promising ball into the box was confidently collected mid-air by Bees goalkeeper Tia Ginn, snuffing out the danger.
The Bees quickly resumed their attacking rhythm.
In the 50th minute, Whitelock once again drove down the left and squared the ball to Larkin, who coolly finished for her second of the afternoon.
Barely a minute later, the Bees were at it again.
This time, Campbell surged forward down the right and squared for Lanza, who calmly slotted in her second and the team’s seventh goal.
The pace of the game began to slow around the hour mark as both sides looked to control the midfield, but the Bees were far from finished.
Another excellent corner from Hoteit found Heil in the centre, who rose highest to head home her second of the match, making it 8-0.
Fresh legs were introduced for the home side, with the likes of Olivia Clement, Layla Kenly, and Destiny Rosier-Welsh entering the field to maintain the Bees’ energy and intensity.
However, Sudbury kept pressing and were rewarded late on.
In the 84th minute, they pulled one back with a well-taken goal from distance.
Moments later, they capitalised on a defensive error to notch a second, reducing the deficit to 8-2.
Despite the late goals from the visitors, the Bees walked away with all three points and a commanding win.
Full-Time: London Bees 8-2 AFC Sudbury
The Bees travel to Stadium MK next Sunday to face new league opponents MK Dons, for a 2pm kick off in the Division One South East League.
Line-Up: Ginn, Hoteit (Davidson 81’), Heil (Rosier-Welsh 81’), Flynn (Clement 81’), Lanza (Isherwood 67’), Burrows, Fowle, Larkin, Wozniak, Campbell (Kenly 81’), Whitelock
Goals: Burrows (15’), Lanza (17’, 51’), Fowle (28’), Heil (30’, 73’), Larkin (37’, 50’)