By Peter Millington Second placed Preston North End convincingly beat seventh placed Bolton to keep the pressure on Blackpool at the top of the Lancashire FA Under 10 Girls League.
Cooper opened the scoring for Preston within two minutes of the kick off with a strong tackle and powerful run down the right wing before sliding the ball coolly under the Bolton keeper to give North End a great start.
Bolton to their credit recovered quickly and started to move the ball well in the middle of the park.
Halfway through the first half Bolton picked the ball up on the half way line and played a couple of neat passes to release the Bolton centre forward down the left wing. The CF outpaced the Preston North End defence and fired in a great left footed shot across the North End keeper to inside the far post to equalise for Bolton.
Preston responded positively and started to exert their physical superiority in the midfield. More North End pressure resulted in Crook scoring neatly to take North End to half time 2–1 up.
The second half saw Preston up the work rate to see off any hope of a Bolton response. Jade Collier Smith was outstanding in defence with some tenacious tackling and excellent passing, confidently supported by Helen Seed who took the opportunity to drive forward whenever possible.
This solid defensive platform enabled Preston to dominate the second half. Hannah Crook scored three more times including a superb solo effort and Olivia Millington drove a well placed left foot shot to the far post to wrap things up for Preston.
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