Eight-goal England too strong for Malta

England 8
Malta 0

Malta suffered their second successive defeat in the women's World Cup qualifiers after going down 8-0 to group favourites England in Blackpool yesterday.

Coming from an embarrassing 13-0 home rout to Spain in their opening Group Five match last month, Pierre Brincat's girls were keen on avoiding another heavy defeat at Bloomfield Road.

However, the 2009 European Championship finalists were at their rampant best with Fara Williams notching a hat-trick.

The hosts were off to a flier, Faye White firing them ahead after just eight minutes.

The Maltese girls tried to keep their composure but England kept up the tempo and managed to score three more goals before the interval through Williams (21, 39) and Jessica Clarke (37).

Malta's woes were further compounded when Natasha Pace was sent off for a second bookable offence on 54 minutes.

England profited from their numerical advantage to stretch their lead with goals from Williams (66), Clarke (76), substitute Emily Westwood (78) and Rachel Unitt (87) for an emphatic 8-0 victory.

England: K. Bardsley, A. Scott, R. Unitt, D. Buet, F. White ('58 L. Johnson), L. Bassett, J. Clarke, J. Scott, L. Sanderson ('54 J. Handley), F. Williams, S. Smith.

Malta: S. Costantino, N. Pace, R. D'Agostino, D. Theuma, Y. Carabott, R. Cuschieri, R. Chircop ('64 K. Saliba), C. Camilleri ('51 M. Deguara), M. Debono, K. Paris, C. Zammit.

Referee: Florence Guillemin (France).