Airedale II 3

Thirsk IV 0

AIREDALE Ladies made a flawless start to the new year as they took on Thirsk.

Creating space on the right wing, Hattie Bradley ensured that Airedale were first on the attack.

Adele Haughey made some good runs to feed the ball through to Beth Cook, who was well positioned in the D.

Early on, Cook was denied by the goalkeeper, but Kitty Blake was quick to pick up the rebound and open the scoring.

Katie Barber controlled central midfield and kept the ball in Airedale’s possession which eventually earned the home team a short corner.

Tanya Ramshaw was the recipient and took a shot which was blocked, but once again Blake came to the rescue to score her second goal.

Thirsk tried to mount pressure on the home team but were consistently halted by Claire Spiller and Liv Roberts, who consequently delivered the ball back upfield.

Anne Stone marked players tightly denying them any chance of progression.

Goalkeeper Kate Perfect, was perfect by name, perfect by nature as she kept a clean sheet with the support of sweeper Martha Simons who made a welcome return to the squad.

Late in the second half an imperious Claire Simons sealed victory as she collected a pass and took a sensational shot from the top of the D, scoring an unstoppable goal.