We made it three wins on the trot in the Barclays Women’s Super League when we faced Aston Villa at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium in October, 2023.
After suffering defeat on the opening day of the 2023/24 season to Chelsea, we’d recorded back-to-back wins prior to our trip to the midlands, and we knew a win at the time against Villa would send us top of the WSL table.
But we had to respond after falling behind early – Rachel Daly on target for the home side – and Martha Thomas did it in superb style, curling the ball over Daphne Van Domselaar from 35 yards out, a sublime finish to put us back on level terms.
Ashleigh Neville headed us in front on the stroke of half time before Martha extended our advantage after the break with two more clinical finishes, giving us a 4-1 lead as we entered the final quarter of the game.
In fact, those three goals by Martha was the first time a player has bagged a hat-trick for the Club in the WSL – and remains the only player in Lilywhite to have achieved this in England’s top flight.
Villa’s Lucy Parker netted a late consolation goal, but we held on to make it three wins on the bounce and send us top of the WSL table for a short period of time.