WINCHESTER 0, ALTON 3

IMPRESSIVE team-work and dogged determination earned Alton a richly deserved victory over local rivals Winchester.

Alton knew it would be tough from the off, especially with conditions so horrendous, but they remained strong and weathered Winchester’s early pressure.

A midfield re-shuffle settled Alton and the game opened up.

After a rare Alton break into the Winchester circle, Jenny Rust’s sweet strike was deflected into the roof of the net by youngster Maya Morrison, appearing from nowhere at the near post.

The goal boosted Alton’s confidence and some fine attacking team play followed, resulting in several short corners. Eventually, Alton calmly passed the ball via Kat Gilbert and Rust back to injector Gayle Moir who put away the second goal.

Winchester came back with several short corners of their own, but Alton took their 2-0 lead into half-time.

In the second half, Alton played the ball around sensibly, supporting each other across the full width of the pitch. Winchester pushed ever higher up the pitch, looking for that elusive goal, while the visitors were an increasing threat on the break.

Alton finally put the game to bed when Morrison pounced on Rust’s clean strike from the top of the D and scored the third goal.

Three welcome points moves Alton up to sixth in the table.