A women’s football team believe they set a new record with a 30-0 win as every outfield player scored and one striker bagged three hat-tricks – but their manager says they tried to keep the score down
A women’s football team believe they have set a new record with a 30-0 win – when every outfield player scored.
The Jersey Bulls have established themselves as a dominant force since joining the English league this season, but recorded their biggest victory yet in a one-sided clash against Guildford Saints on Sunday. The score at half-time was already 13-0 with the deadlock broken after five minutes. Throughout the match, goals were then scored on average every three minutes.
Manager Chad Morris said the scoreline would have been even greater but for his players showing ‘restraint’ and swapping the attackers for defenders to not be disrespectful to their opponents. Despite this, all 10 outfield players who played for the Bulls got on the scoresheet.
Star striker Anita Tavares hit the net an incredible nine times, moving her season league tally to 28, Holly Sundby hit six, while there were also hat-tricks for Leah Morris and Tiffany Sundby. The remaining goals were shared with two for Taylor Smythe, Amy Guthrie and Ella Brennand while individual strikes from Sam Silva-Pinto, Alena Clyde-Smith and Rachael McCarten completed the rout.
Jersey Bulls women, who joined the English league for the first time this season, currently sit nine points clear at the top of Surrey Division 1 with 11 wins out of 11. They have so far scored 95 goals conceding just eight. The latest thrashing breaks their previous record win, a 17-0 victory at Moseley Athletic on December 7 last year.
Morris praised his side for doing what they could to keep the score down and not rubbing their opponent’s noses in it. He added: “If I’m honest we were playing down the scoreline. We are not really into pumping teams 30-0 and we did all we could to keep it down.
“Twenty minutes in and I realised where this was going. I pulled all the players in and we discussed how we were going to manage this. I put constraints on them and we switched play, kept possession and changed formation. We moved players around from attack to defence. I wanted my players to be classy and they were. We were not there to rub anyone’s noses in it.
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“I have never heard of all outfield players scoring in a game before though. It could well be a record and we’ll have to look into that. It is certainly very unusual and from my understanding unheard of. I’ve also not heard of a player scoring nine in one game before. So that could be another record. Very early on we knew the scoreline could get a bit ridiculous.
“It was a no win situation all round really. If our striker was in front of goal with a tap in is it more taking the mickey to score or pass it back to the middle? It was just about doing the job and getting the three points. There was no gloating going on. It was about getting out and getting home. We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and I have only respect for the way my player’s handled the situation.”
A rule in the league means an application can be made to play nine players against nine, which is what Guildford did. As a result all eight starting players scored for Jersey Bulls as well as the two substitutes – marking a potentially record-breaking 10 different goalscorers.
Morris added: “It is not ideal but it is in the league rules and we knew about it in advance so we just got on with it.” All the outfield players that started scored as well as both players who came off the bench. He said: “We moved strikers into defence and defenders into strikers and they all managed to find the net. You don’t want big scorelines like this in matches but there was a job to do.”
The Jersey Bulls are an off-shoot of the men’s team and pick the best players from four current women’s teams on the island. In their first season, they are currently in tier seven of the football pyramid and are looking to move up a tier next year.
Morris added: “It is our first season but the feedback we have got is we should be in a higher tier. But you’ve also got to understand the football pyramid. They don’t know who we are or where to put us at the start.”
He also praised the opposition for their attitude as despite the heavy loss, they kept their heads up and shook hands at the final whistle. The unique challenge of playing games on the mainland involves regular flights and a 14 hour shift for matches on the Sunday.
Morris explained: “The dedication has to be there but it is great to give young talented sportswomen on the island an opportunity to develop and show them a pathway, so we can stop talented footballers having to branch out into other sports.”
The team now have just one game remaining at home on February 8 when they take on Cranleigh to try and complete a clean sweep of 12 from 12 in their debut season.
The goals were scored as follows: Tavares 5, 8, 19, 32, 33, 54, 61, 63, 69, Morris 6, 28, 49, H. Sundby 10, 12, 21, 24, 30, 67, Clyde-Smith 22, T. Sundby 51, 57, 73, Smythe 59, 71, Guthrie 79, 88, Brennand 82, 90, Silva-Pinto, 85, McCarten 87.