F U L L - T I M E
A 13:0 scoreline says quite a bit. Who could blame Hitchin Belles for anything? They have won their promotions and have battled their way up to Tier Six and they're doing OK there. We are playing at Tier Seven and there's no way a side from a lower league should come to a higher club and record a score like this. It's a little sad that The Belles had to experience a defeat such as this one but it is a marker of how unbalanced the entire FAWNL pyramid is. The promotion and relegation system employed in the women's leagues is not fit for purpose in the modern game. We look to the suits who populate the football ivory towers to fix this - and soon.
Final scorers were Sammy Rowland x5, Grace Gillard x3, Ruby Abela, Hayley West, Poppy Binding, Gemma Abela Baker and one own-goal.
90 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Sammy Rowland runs in her fifth.
89 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Skipper Grace Gillard makes the home side's suffering even worse... again. We're losing count.
87 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Skipper Grace Gillard makes the home side's suffering even worse.
83 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Gemma Abela Baker gets us into double figures.
79 mins
The shots are raining in now, two went just wide within a minute. Hitchin must be wishing for this to be finished.
76 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Shades of 1966 world cup with a ball in off the bar. This time it wasn't Geoff Hurst but Young Ruby Abela with a blaster from outside the box.
72 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Steph McCaffrey gets a shot on target, the keeper parries it. Then Gemma Abela Baker has a shot of her own which is deflected in by a Belles' defender. When it's just not your day!
67 mins
Belles' Marsha Glass gets a good cheer from the crowd as she gets a shot on target which Lola Duroyaiye saves.
65 mins
We have another corner, Ellie Thomas-Leek takes it which results in another corner, Kallie Balfour takes this one. Hitchin clear it.
.....
Our thanks to the folks at LOFC_Women X channel for the update about the subs. Poppy Binding, Georgia Griffin & Esme Lancaster️ go off,
Lucy Porter, Ruby Abela & Gemma Abela join the fray.
62 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
That's the seventh and a fourth for Sammy Rowland.
58 mins
We have a corner
57 mins
Ellie Thomas-Leek comes into the action, she takes a free kick and has a crack at goal, the keeper saves.
55 mins
Lucy Porter tries a shot from range, the keeper saves. Steph McCafrey shoots wide.
48 mins
Stephanie McCaffrey puts in a sharp effort but it missed an upright.
46 mins
The second half is underway. We've made a couple of substitutions, we think Ruby Abela is one of them, Lucy Porter the other. Sorry, we just don't know all the names/faces yet.
45 mins
Whilst we wait for the second half, here's a quick shout-out for Olivia McGregor who is clearly a player of huge ability and has been pulling the strings the entire first half.
Liv McGregor
45 mins
H A L F - T I M E
45 mins
Belles' Madisson Woodcock has good effort on goal, Lola Duroyaiye catches it.
42 mins
Steph McCaffrey tries to add to the scoreline but clears the bar. Georgia Griffin hits another great shot from the right but the keeper saves.
41 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Poppy Binding hits a wonder strike for number six. A goal of the season contender on day one!
37 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
This is becoming too one-sided. Sammy hits her hat-trick after dispossessing a Hitchin defender and then holding off the challenge to score again. That's five goals in eleven minutes.
33 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Kallie Balfour is unplayable at the moment and sets up Sammy Rowland with a fourth goal.
31 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Steph McCaffrey again causing all manner of problems in the Belle's goalmouth and from that we earn another corner. A goalmouth melee ensues with the ball ending up in Hitchin's net again.
29 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Steph McCaffrey has her goal bound effort pushed round the corner but it only took another minute for the E10 ladies to add to their scoreline, we think it put in by Hayley West.
26 mins
!!! G O A L !!!
Finally! Sammy Rowland starts her season off well with Orient's first goal of the campaign.
23 mins
Kallie Balfour shows some amazing skills to sweep away from her marker. There's a good and noisy crowd here and they showed their appreciation.
21 mins
Georgia Griffin hits a strongh shot but Belles' busy keeper saves again.
18 mins
Poppy Binding is everywhere, Georgia Griffin gets a shot in from wide right but the keeper gets to it.
16 mins
Poppy Binding skies a half chance well over then Steph McCaffrey just fails to make a fair chance pay. Lola Duroyaiye in Orient's goal is just a spectator for now.
14 mins
We get yet another effort on goal but the ball clears the crossbar. Sammy Rowland gets through the defence but is ruled offside. It's all Orient at the moment.
12 mins
A shot comes in from our right from Georgia Griffin but it went wide. Steph McCaffrey also has a go at goal but the keeper makes a regulation save.
9 mins
Poppy Binding gets a good shot away but the keeper is equal to it. Mostly Orient on the front foot at the moment.
6 mins
There seems to be a problem with the match ball/s. Someone going for a pump!
2 mins
Os get an early corner. Poppy Binding goes close by hitting the post. We get an attacking throw in.
1 min
And we're off and playing here at Hitchin. Orient are playing in their green away kit.
0 mins
One minute to go....
Hitchin Belles are ready...
Getting ready for the game.
Nice ground at Hitchin.
13 mins to KO
Hitchin's line-up now as shown below. One of our Wiktorias is at the ground but not on the team sheet, we'll find out if she'll play. Simon White, our contact guy at Belles says we look like a team of giants in comparison. He doesn't sound confident.
20 mins to KO
Orient's line-up now as shown below. Just the three subs known so far. No Wiktorias, we normally have two to choose from.
30 mins to KO
Hello and welcome to today's Live-text service. Our girls are in the all-green kit for this FA Cup game and are currently going through their warm-up and prep routine. Larry Peterson is already at the ground and has sent through the team sheets, we'll update those (below) in a few moments. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Hitchin Belles WFC
Pre-match...
From Hitchin Town FC's stadium, "Top Field".
Orient's women are about to take on Hitchin Belles, a Tier six team, in the first qualifying round of the National Women's FA Cup competition. Orient play at Tier seven, that's one level down the pecking order. The folks at Hitchin Belles WFC know we have recruited strongly during the summer in preparation for this season so are under no illusion that things should be easy against a Tier seven side.
Our roving correspondent Larry Peterson will be at the venue, we'll be publishing his comments before, during and after the game (see above)
O's line-up:
SUBS:
⚽ Ruby Abela
⚽ Esme Lancaster
⚽ Lucy Porter
Belles' line-up:
⚽ Molly Bishop
⚽ Lauren Brooker
⚽ Rachel Spennylow (C)
⚽ Lilly Nellis
⚽ Holly Thomson
⚽ Natasha Ridley
⚽ Maddison Woodcock
⚽ Sky Stone
⚽ Emily Peat
⚽ Holly Wilks
⚽ Hollie Quince
SUBS:
⚽ Annabel Ferguson
⚽ Marsha Glass
⚽ Josephine Sealy
⚽ Kiera Mynott