It was windy day in the open muddy fields of Hackney Marshes, that saw light drops of rain and half a rainbow, that probably held Brentford’s three points at the end of it. The Bees were successful in attaining a comprehensive win over Tower Hamlets on Sunday. It also means they collected their points holding them in fourth place on the table, one point away from the top three.
There was ample action within the first three minutes when Connie Malone found an opportunity which was cleared by a Tower Hamlets defender. The Bees were attacking well, putting together compact play and consistently delivering passes. Unsurprisingly, it only took a few minutes for Connie to find the goal, with great composure leading to a fine finish with an assist from Jasmine Williamson. The Bees were up 1-0.
The Bees made a few errors, causing them to lose the ball, but they responded quickly each time recovering possession and sending the ball deep in to Tower Hamlets territory. A few hiccups saw Brentford struggle to maintain dominance, however they still managed to secure a 2-0 lead as Kaitlyn Spencer-Dempsey provided a strike from a free-kick.
The defence line wasn’t at its strongest and Tower Hamlets made a break for goal, but the ball went wide, providing the first threat from the home team. This attempt put Brentford on alert and with smooth passes, Kaitlyn found the opportunity to drive the ball home and give The Bees a 3-0 lead.
However, in less than a minute, Tower Hamlets responded with a break from halfway line. With an absent Brentford midfield, they found the net and reduced the deficit. Half time loomed and the opposition seemed to have woken up, pressing Brentford back.
The second half saw no less action and Brentford had the wind in their favour. It was 4-1 within minutes when a clumsy mistake by the opposition keeper saw the ball slip away and Jasmine Williamson comfortably slipped it over the line. In similar fashion, minutes later, the ball bounced from Sophie Boycott’s hands and Tower Hamlets found themselves another goal, showing clearly they were still in the game at 4-2.
Brentford weren’t willing to let up and neither were the opposition, and as the weather threatened rain, so did each team threaten goals. Brentford showed great resilience in both attacking and defence, with particular mention to Brentford’s Player of the Match Salma Mahamud, who gave a superb performance is constantly driving the ball away from goal, leaving Sophie with less work.
It was at the 70th minute mark that Jasmine Williamson guided the ball down the right and with a superb finish got Brentford's fifth. The Bees were clearly set to rectify previous mistakes from the game and Jasmine was also on the prowl, when she put another over the line taking Brentford up to six goals, and scoring herself a hat-trick.
Chi Anokwuru proved herself an impactful sub when in the 87th minute she made a great run towards the ball challenging the host’s goalkeeper and perfectly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 7-2. In the 90th minute, Karen Abou-Abdallah who had stepped up immensely in the midfield, was taken down by the opposition and Brentford won a free kick. Taken by Kasey Clifford, a beautiful strike sent it straight into the net and Brentford were up to eight. An additional three minutes were played, but it wasn’t enough time for Tower Hamlets to make a comeback, and the game ended, 8-2 to The Bees.
Head Coach Will Blithing said: "It was good to get a result in the league, conditions weren’t great and we did make it hard for ourselves at times, but overall I’m very happy with the result with some very great finishes to top off the win."