Hull City Ladies endured a tough afternoon as they were comfortably beaten 6-1 by Bolton Wanderers Ladies in their opening game at the Dransfield Stadium in North Ferriby.

Despite taking the lead, three goals in seven first-half minutes saw the visitors head into the break at half-time with a two-goal advantage. The goals fell heavily after the restart as well with Bolton netting another three goals to complete the rout.

Tricky winger Emily Smith gave the Tigresses the lead in the 26th minute when her chipped effort was helped into the net thanks to a deflection from Bolton defender Nicole Malpus. The home side then had a chance to double their lead just moments later through Katie Thompson. Smith turned provider on this occasion and found Thompson inside the box, however the forward could only fire over, the spurned chance proved costly as well with Bolton equalising just five minutes later.

Some terrific hold-up play from Erin Slade allowed her to play it wide to Saffron Newhouse and she supplied a lovely cross for Lucy Golding to tap home. Bolton took advantage of the momentum shift as well and managed to claim the lead before the break. A long punt from the back found the run of Newhouse who delicately chipped the ball into the far-left corner and beyond the reach of Jasmine Lacey. Bolton’s Ceri Ogdon then added another in first-half stoppage time with a delightful strike from the edge of the box.

The visitors came out all guns blazing in the second-half as well and were awarded a penalty just two minutes after the restart. Hull midfielder Holly Dodsworth hacked down Imogen Paul and up stepped Rebecca Foster to slot past substitute ‘keeper Sharla Cone. Bolton had pressed aggressively all game, and this was demonstrated perfectly with their fifth goal.

Hull defender Amy Wilson was pressured into making a mistake, allowing the visitors to collect the ball through Newhouse, and she played a neat one-two with Golding before lobbing Cone. Newhouse then completed the scoring for the day when she grabbed her second and Bolton’s sixth after being slotted in by Foster.

A disappointing result for the Tigresses who will now face a Manchester United Women’s XI in their final game of pre-season as part of Ellice Jackman’s testimonial. We know that our Tigresses will bounce back from this stronger than ever.