Dereham Ladies 4, Bourne Ladies 0DEREHAM got the second half of their season off to a flying start with a solid performance against mid-table Bourne on Saturday.

Dereham Ladies 4, Bourne Ladies 0

DEREHAM got the second half of their season off to a flying start with a solid performance against mid-table Bourne on Saturday.

Bourne's very physical approach made it difficult for the league leaders to find the opening goal, but the breakthrough finally came mid-way through the half when Hannah Palmer crossed for top scorer Evie Van Poortvliet to make it 1-0.

Dereham continued with a wave of attacks on the Bourne goal, from open play and short corners, but were kept at bay by some inspired goalkeeping. Holly Allen and Louise Hewitt both came close, but the second goal finally came just before half-time with another fine effort by Van Poortvliet.

The visitors set about their first real attack on the Dereham goal early in the second half, which didn't amount to much. The open field gave Dereham the opportunity to break rapidly out of defence with some excellent balls from Donna Causton. She grabbed the third goal when her short corner strike flicked off the keeper's pads into the top of the net.

Dereham welcomed a new face to their squad, Chloe Hobson, whose debut in defence went smoothly as Dereham kept another clean sheet.

The final goal saw Van Poortvliet earn a well-deserved hat-trickas Dereham, remain 12 points clear at the top of the table.

They next travel to second-placed Colchester, hoping to repeat their 5-0 victory over their rivals.

Dereham: J Purser, D Causton, H Malcolmson, S Johnson, S Savage, C Hobson, S Skelton, L Hewitt, G Edwards, E Settle, R Fisher, H Palmer, H Allen, E Van Poortvliet.

Loddon 3, Dereham Colts 0

Colts had a hard game against the table toppers. It was a much more balanced match with the Colts losing out only to clinical finishing on the break.

Loddon went 2-0 up in the first half as Dereham struggled to cope with their formation of two centre forwards, playing one high and one deep. The team also struggled to keep possession and progress the ball forward to the frustrated Colts strikers.

Zoe Taylor, in a new position in goal, had a storming performance and kept the Colts in the game. Taylor won player-of-the-match, making excellent saves with both hands and both feet and even charging out of the goal at times.

The second half saw Dereham come out with the defence sorted. Rachel Lavers and Heather Morgan both took on individual marking roles and this stemmed the Loddon attack.

The Colts youth and fitness shone through, and the midfield got into the game more and made better use of the ball, particularly Juliet Richardson who did brilliantly in her Colts debut.

Some lovely weighted passes and strong runs created opportunities for the Dereham strikers - Charlotte Reeve in particular had excellent game and worked hard.

The best chance fell to Ellie Boyce on the left wing whose shot was denied by the brave Loddon keeper who was quick off the line and dived at Boyce's feet.

Dereham Colts: Ellie Boyce, Emily Crisp, Charlotte Dann, Beanie Hazel, Bev Kushbish, Helen Kiddle-Morris, Rachel Lavers, Heather Morgan (capt), Charlotte Reeve, Juliet Richardson, Hannah Tarry, Zoe Taylor (gk), Hannah Turner.