Cantebury Chris Church have no answer to Ellis Paris, Sandy Tak and Otesha Charles, who all score three or more in rout

University of East London’s women football team thrashed Canterbury Christ Church 13-2 in the BUCS South Eastern Conference Cup this week.

Hat-tricks from Ellie Paris, Sandy Tak and Otesha Charles allowed the east Londoners to coast through their match.

It was Canterbury who got off onto the front foot and looked to cause UEL problems, but they couldn’t open the scoring.

It was left to the east Londoners to break the deadlock with eight minutes played when Charles headed home after Molly Concepcion hit the post.

It took six minutes for UEL to score another, scored by Tak. Her first of the match came as she coasted through the defence and slotted the ball into the corner of the net, out of the reach of the opposition goalkeeper.

However, Canterbury hit back against the run of play after around 20 minutes as a looping shot just caught UEL goalkeeper Elise Polley out.

But the east Londoners didn’t get down about it and pressured Canterbury hard and managed to score on the half an hour mark with Charles scoring her second of the game with a stroked finish after a cross wasn’t dealt with.

Two minutes later Tak made it 4-1 with her second after clinically finishing into an empty goalkeeper net.

It was goals galore prior to half time, with five in five minutes. A truly insane period of cup football.

Paris get her first of the match with a powerful drive into the bottom left hand corner before Charles hit a first half hat-trick with the speedy winger getting in behind and finishing with relative ease.

The next goal came out of the blue as UEL gave the ball away with a poor back pass which was pounced upon by the Canterbury striker who put her shot over Polley to make it 6-2.

Concepcion added her name to the goal-scoring list with a powerful shot which flew past the goalkeeper at the near post.

Before Tak matched her team-mate with a first half hat-trick of her own. In behind the defence and finished well when the Canterbury keeper came out to close down.

UEL started the second half as they had finished the first, with all the momentum and they knocked the ball about with confidence.

It was not long before UEL found the net again, courtesy of Charles who now had four goals to her name.

UEL’s captain played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Paris who effort was palmed straight to Charles, who could not miss making it 9-2.

The east Londoners continued to pile forward and the chances came in abundance. Katie Donahue had a header saved, before Paris found herself one-on-one with the keeper, but curled the ball just wide of the far post.

UEL’s dominance was once again rewarded perhaps with a stroke of fortune. Canterbury’s goalkeeper let the ball slip through her grasp after a shot from UEL’s left back, who watched the ball roll into the back of the net to send UEL into double figures.

Shortly after, there was a clash of heads between Charles and the Canterbury keeper after a 50-50 aerial challenge, both players emerged from the challenge fine after a short delay. To add to the collection, Tak fired a shot from distance into the net to make it 11-2.

It was safe to say the floodgates had well and truly opened and UEL did not hesitate in striving for further goals.

Their captain performed a great turn on the ball before playing it into the path of Paris who drove a shot low into the corner for a 12th goal.

The game’s final goal came from Paris who now had a hat-trick for herself, making it 13-2 as the referee drew the game to a close much to the visiting side’s relief.

UEL’s success can be attributed to a good team performance. The defence were solid and organised, whilst the midfield players were physical in battles for the ball and vital in creating assists.

Up front the east Londoners were clinical, evident through the fact there were three hat-trick heroes.

Canterbury gave a good account of themselves in the opening exchanges, scoring two good goals in the process.

Unfortunately, the level of quality in the UEL ranks was a decisive factor in this cup match, allowing the hosts to progress to the next round.