Shrimps Women win historic first Mazuma encounter

Morecambe FC Women recorded a comprehensive victory in their very first competitive fixture at the Mazuma Stadium.

The Shrimps best Workington Reds Ladies 5-1, in front of a crowd of 654 on Sunday afternoon.

Yasmine Swarbrick bagged a hat-trick, while there was one from Nat Broad and an own goal from the visitors secured the points in the North West Women's Regional League Division One North.

Morecambe opened the scoring on 23 minutes when a first ball in to the area wasn’t dealt with, and Swarbrick found herself in the right place at the right time to slot home.

Workington were level after Henderson finished into the bottom-right corner.

Shrimps took the lead again soon after, when Broad played in Swarbrick and the striker made no mistake for her second of the game.

An own goal made it 3-1 to the Shrimps just before half time, before in the second half, Morecambe scored twice more in the closing ten minutes, first through Nat Broad, before Swarbrick completed  her hat-trick after slotting home in the final minute, to complete a memorable first ever afternoon at the Mazuma.

Morecambe Football Club welcomed open age women's team into the Shrimps family in September, after agreeing a partnership to support and develop the growth of Women’s Football in the area, and for the first time, formally bring local, established open age Women’s team into the ‘MFC Family’.

The team can be traced back to 2005, when Sophie Fish formed Lancaster and Morecambe Ladies FC to provide an opportunity for females to play football in the district - within 12 months, Nick Barrett joined as chairman. The open age team is fed into by Morecambe Girls FC, a junior section which started in 2018, with Sophie and Nick as the driving force, supported by an enthusiastic committee of volunteers and coaches.

The partnership sees Morecambe Football Club Women access improved training facilities in the area, as well as opportunities to play fixtures at the Mazuma Stadium, with this fixture the first one.