Shania Hayles' brace showed Bristol City's title credentials as they ran away to a resounding 5-0 win at Sunderland in the Women's Championship.
The Robins’ number nine netted twice before half time to move to the top of the division’s scoring charts, before strikes from Ella Powell, Jazz Bull, and Abi Harrison ensured a return to winning ways after a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United last time out.
With closet rivals London City losing 1-0 to Southampton, the Robins are six points clear at the top with two games to play and will seal the title with a positive result over Charlton Athletic at Ashton Gate.
The promotion picture is slightly complicated by Birmingham City who are seven points behind but do have a game in hand on Wednesday against Durham. A win for Blues means the Robins require victory on Sunday to confirm a return to the WSL, although should Birmingham drop points in midweek, then City would only need a draw against the Addicks. A defeat likely sends it to the final weekend of the season.
“I can’t really put it into words, I’m just happy we got the win. We’ve had a frustrating couple of weeks, so to come out and put a good performance on is a big relief for us," said City forward Ella Powell. "I think it’s a performance that’s been coming, I think we’ve known we had a performance like that in our locker and for some reason we haven’t been clicking as a team, but it came right.
"We executed the game plan, and we kept fighting right to the end – the goals coming late in the game just shows we keep working until the final whistle goes.
“In this league, you can’t take anything for granted, you can’t take your foot off the gas for one moment and we really had to come together after the Sheffield United game and regroup. The international break came and gave us that opportunity to get back to the basics and I’m glad the hard work has paid off."
The promotion-chasers showed their quality in the opening stages without troubling the scoresheet with Grace McCatty – making her 100th appearance for the home side – putting in a vital block to deny Harrison a certain goal.
The defender almost marked her milestone with a goal midway through the half but saw her header cleared off the line.
Hayles handed the visitors a deserved lead in the 35th minute with a rebound after Claudia Moan produced a superb save to deny Brooke Aspin. And it was two five minutes later – as latched onto a through ball from Grace Clinton and netted her 11th of the season.
McCatty was again unfortunate not to score after the break, this time heading against the bar - but the visitors snuffed out any momentum the Lasses had in the 62nd minute when Powell marked her 50th City appearance by guiding the ball into the bottom corner via the post.
Bull grabbed a fourth in the 87th minute before Harrison wrapped up the win in stoppage time to set up a potential promotion party at Ashton Gate this Sunday.
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