A hat trick from Sophie Humphrey, doubles for Sara Tubby and Gemma Worsfold and a fine solo effort from Sara Hinton saw Michelle Lawrence’s side run out comfortable winners at Fort Road.

The visitors dominated the first half from the offset and almost took the lead inside five minutes. After great build up play down the right, Tammy Waine found herself unmarked five yards out but put her header wide.

Chloe Lelliott and Sara Tubby also had chances to open the scoring in the early exchanges, however they both failed to hit the target. Docker’s keeper, Annie Hills was in inspired form for the hosts, and she produced two great sprawling saves on the half hour mark firstly to deny Worsfold from close quarters, before Tubby was denied inside the six yard box 30-seconds later. Newhaven’s only chance of note came on 32-minutes when Lauren Smith’s free kick flew well wide of Amy Coster’s far post.

Despite her first half heroics, the Newhaven goalkeeper continued to come under siege from the Worthing frontline, and eventually that pressure would tell as the floodgates opened. Worthing opened the scoring on 37-minutes after a lapse of concentration from the Newhaven rearguard allowed Worsfold to cooly finish past Hills to give Lawrence’s side a more than deserved lead.

Worthing did not let up after taking the lead, and the hosts’ defensive frailties were punished ruthlessly as the visitors scored three times in five-minutes to all but seal the three points before half time. Less than five-minutes after taking the lead, Humphrey grabbed Worthing’s second from close range on 40-minutes after a great run and cross by Sam Mee. 60-seconds later, Worthing added their third when Tubby was sent clear and show great composure for a simple finish. Not to be outdone, Worsfold added a fourth on the stroke of half time, curling a sumptuous first time effort into the top corner to give Worthing a 4-0 lead at the interval.

The second half began as the first had ended, and Worthing almost added a fifth goal straight from kick off, however Worsfold’s shot was brilliantly cleared off the line. With the game all but sealed, Lawrence made several substitutions, as Worthing looked to add to their already emphatic tally.

After continuing to dominate, Humphrey added her second goal on 51-minutes when she finished off another fine move to bring the score to 5-0. Moments later, another great run by Mee drew a foul in the penalty area, however Tubby’s spot kick was well saved by Hills.

Hinton grabbed Worthing’s sixth on 75-minutes when she expertly lobbed Hills after picking up a loose pass in midfield for her first league goal of the season. Newhaven’s porous defence continued to retreat further and further into their own half as the full time whistle approached, but to no avail. After returning to the action from the bench, Tubby grabbed her second on 86-minutes with another fine finish, before setting up Humphrey for her hat trick a minute later. After collecting the ball in her own half, Tubby produced a fine through ball, leaving Humphrey with the simple task of sliding the ball past Hills to complete the rout.

That was the final action of a pulsating encounter, as Worthing produced an almost perfect performance to return to winning ways and move closer to league leaders Lewes who they meet next week.

Speaking after the game, hat trick hero Sophie Humphrey was delighted with her team’s clinical edge in front of goal. She said, “I thought everyone played really well today. We all worked hard for each other and I was delighted to get on the scoresheet and grab a hat trick”.