Perfect 10 for Town’s Final win
LADIES COLLECT MARSH SPORT COUNTY PLATE
GRIMSBY Town Women scored ten goals to no reply against HBW United Ladies to win the 2024 Marsh Sport County Plate. The Mariners had scored 15 goals in the previous three rounds on the way to the final, and they made light work of HBW United to win their first-ever final appearance in this competition.
Beth Wharton starred with four goals, with Town showing their class against lower league opposition to end the season on a high.
The Mariners started brightly when Wharton grabbed the opener with a shot from inside the box, which found the bottom corner. Just five minutes later Town had the second as an Olivia Kershaw freekick found its way to Danielle Brighton at the back post, who tapped in.
The lead was tripled when Alisha De Jonge looped the ball over the keeper’s head from the edge of the box with her back to goal, and Eden Pedersen added a fourth for Grimsby before the half-time interval. Wharton started the second half, in the same way she started the first, scoring from inside the box in the opening three minutes of the half.
Moments later, Town’s in-form striker had her hat-trick with another cool finish from inside the box slotting past the keeper. Wharton’s mazy run with the ball through a few tackles opened up the opportunity for a fourth goal and her team’s seventh, which she took with just over 20 minutes left. Town were ruthless and an own goal helped them on their way before Pederson got her second goal to take the lead up to nine. Harriet Dalton got in on the act with the final goal, cementing the cup victory. After a difficult campaign, which has resulted in relegation with one game to play, it was nice for Hayley Cox and her team to enjoy cup success to show signs of progress. Head coach Cox said: “I wanted to say thank you to all those who had come out to support us in the cup final and throughout the season. HBW put a real shift in and had some really good moments.
“A massive thank you to all of the players as well – I feel like the squad has grown a lot this year and we’re continuing to develop, so it is good to have some success after a difficult league season.”
Four-goal hero Wharton added: “I think it was a really good game. HBW played their hearts out. It was great to get on the scoresheet but the whole team put in a great effort and it was just a good all-round performance from us.”