There's always something special about the first home match of the season. It's a chance to lay down some rules, create some great memories and start turning St Edmund’s into a fortress!

Risers were up against it, with only seven players, and so our blue-shirted seven lined up against the monochrome kitted 10 of Faversham Town.

The spark we saw start to flame last week finally exploded into life as Risers started fast, pressing high and not allowing Faversham any time on the ball. Six minutes in, the pressure paid off and Izzy grabbed a fantastic opening goal off her left foot! 1-0 Risers!

Faversham tried to push back out of their own half but Risers started to dominate the midfield and take more time on the ball, with Izzy and Lia taking control and freeing up our strikers, leading to a lovely long-range effort from Sunee, which pinged in off the crossbar, to make it 2-0. Risers were starting to play with a smile on their faces and once again Kai and Larissa were an impassable wall in defence, cutting off Faversham's attempts to carve out chances for their strikers. 24 minutes in, Lia lofted a lovely ball in from a corner, laying it on a plate for Sunee to make it 3!

The mark of a great keeper is concentration, and after a quiet opening period, Ruby made a brilliant save, ending Faversham's hopes of a lifeline before halftime. More pressure, another great corner from Lia that almost went in on its own, and then seconds later one of Aaliyah's lung-busting dribbles down the wing created the goal that gave Sunee her hat-trick. Risers saved the best till last though, and with some lovely one-touch passing in midfield, the ball was pinged from Lia to Sunee to Izzy and then back to Sunee to slot it home for 5–0.

Half time and some tactical tweaks from the coaches led to Sunee swapping the gloves with Ruby. She was called into action straight away, making a two-handed save as Faversham surged forward. The ball was played out quick, Aaliyah took it up the wing and provided Lia with a lovely pass, which she finished for number 6. Ruby, now playing upfront, was alert, and a lovely through-ball from Izzy created Ruby’s first goal of the day. 7–0 Risers.

Faversham never gave up though, and kept trying to find a way through, once more managing to create a one-on-one with the keeper, but Sunee dived at full stretch to her right and maintained the home team’s clean sheet! Moments later, Izzy controlled the ball with her head and set Lia up for a stunning long-range goal from outside the box. 8–0.

For the final quarter, the coaches rotated again and this time the players showed their versatility – Aaliyah went in goal, Sunee came into central defence, and Kai played up front. It was a shrewd tactical move as Kai's physicality proved too much for Faversham to handle. First, he set up Ruby for her second goal, then Lia grabbed her hat-trick before Kai scored a brace and set up another for Ruby. 13–0. There is no power play rule in competitive football but Risers took a player off for much of the last 15, keeping six onfield, and the players remained respectful of their industrious opponents throughout. Faversham kept pressing but understandably heads started to drop, and Risers managed to score two more, with Lia grabbing her fourth of the game and Izzy's wonderful performance finally capped off with a second goal.

The final whistle blew and the first brick in Fortress St Edmund’s was laid. Risers have their first three points on the board.

Well played Risers!

Sunee was voted opponents’ player of the match, Lia was voted coaches’ player of the match.

Keith Maynard