Bradford City collapse to heavy defeat in Chester-le-Street

They were crushed 6-0 following a dreadful collapse at Chester-le-Street Town Ladies, having been the better side for the opening 40 minutes.

Hannah Markey and Rebecca Hunt both came close to opening the scoring for the Bantams in the first 10 minutes, and at the other end, Meg Long and Matilda Fernie were defending well to keep the hosts at arm’s length.

Skipper Monika Stube had an effort well saved just after the half-hour mark, but from there, Chester-le-Street began to get on top.

They took the lead just before the break after Tiffany Whelan made a fine stop but was unable to stop the rebound from finding the net.

Tiffany Whelan made some good saves in the Bradford City goal, but she could not stop her side from falling to a heavy defeat. (Image: Alex Daniel.)

And she was beaten again in first-half stoppage-time, as the hosts squeezed a shot in at the near post.

Whelan made another good save just after the break as City found themselves under the cosh, but they were still only two goals behind midway through the second half, harbouring hopes of a comeback.

Yet Chester-le-Street netted their third goal on 68 minutes, almost immediately followed by a fourth, to end the game as a contest.

And two late goals set the seal on a miserable afternoon for the Bantams, who slipped to eighth with the defeat.

Niyah Dunbar was on target twice for the hosts, whose other goals came courtesy of Jenny Ashton, Katie Ellison, Laura Hockaday and Rhiannon Gray.

Chester-le-Street now sit top of the table on goal difference from Ponteland United and South Shields, with all three sides picking up 10 points from their opening four league games.

And South Shields will provide another tough test for City in their next game, as they head down from the North-East to take on the Bantams this Sunday in a league encounter.

City will be looking to claim their first league win since the opening day, when they won 3-2 at home to Wallsend.