Sophie Manzi marked her return to the Fulham FC Women starting line-up with a double as the Whites beat Crawley AFC 4-0 on a cold afternoon at Motspur Park.
The Whites consolidated second spot in the London and South East Regional Premier Division with a clinical display of first half finishing against the division’s bottom side. Fulham began at a high tempo and could easily have been in front in the early stages. Centre half Ella Tagliavini sent a sighter wide of goal before the lively Manzi, who had to make do with a place on the bench in last week’s Craven Cottage Capital Cup clash with Arsenal, tested the visiting goalkeeper’s reflexes with a header from Madi Parsonson’s cross.
Becky Stormer headed off target at the end of a ferocious Fulham assault on the Crawley goal in the first ten minutes, but just when it looked like the away side had weathered the storm they conceded the opening goal. Georgia Heasman broke the deadline, scoring her tenth goal of the season with a precise finish into the bottom corner after surging onto Stormer’s searching pass.
Manzi doubled Fulham’s lead from the penalty spot five minutes later and Heasman almost made it three when she rattled the woodwork with another excellent effort. The home side continued to pour forward, with the quality of Parsonson’s delivery from the right flank eventually paying dividends. The former Dulwich Hamlet wing-back set up Manzi’s seventeenth goal since signing for Fulham in the summer with a lovely ball just after the half an hour mark before she whipped in another great cross that Stormer nodded into the net seven minutes before the break.
Crawley could have easily cracked in the second half but they produced a dogged and determined defensive performance that prevented Fulham from adding to their lead. Stormer struck a shot wide early in the second period but Steve Jaye’s struggled to carve out clear cut chances until the end of the ninety minutes. The closest the hosts came was in the final minute when Manzi’s deflected cross broke kindly for Megalie Mendes but her shot clipped the crossbar on the way over.
FULHAM FC WOMEN (3-4-3): Stratton; Tagliavini, Dale, Southgate; Parsonson, Mendes, Stormer, Lambird; Heasman, Adamson, Manzi. Subs: Parker, Bird, Christison-McNee, Lewis, Hayman.
GOALS: Heasman (16), Manzi (pen 21, 31), Stormer (38).
CRAWLEY AFC: Chapman; Haworth, Higham, Hudson, B. Humphrey, Lazenby, MacFarlane, Martin, McDonnell, Pace, Williams. Subs: Haughton, O. Humphrey, Page, Palmer.
BOOKED: Pace, Williams.
REFEREE: Tristan Hall.
ATTENDANCE: 163.
