BURTON Albion were consigned to a bottom-three finish and potential relegation in FAWNL Division One Midlands after a heavy defeat to Lincoln City at the Pirelli Stadium.
The visitors came into the match having not played in three weeks but started quickly at the Pirelli. Burton had an early let-off as Lauren Wilcock struck the crossbar for the visitors, having received the ball in plenty of space at the far post.
Lincoln quickly took advantage of their threatening start, as Chantelle Robinson volleyed home through the legs of Alice Langstone to open the scoring after only four minutes.
Burton defended well following on from the opener, but a penalty was awarded to the Imps in the 15th minute, as Grace Fernandez’s sliding challenge was judged to have been a foul. Toni McHamilton sent Langstone the wrong way as she doubled City’s lead at the Pirelli.
Wilcock made up for her early miss in the 20th minute, as she slotted past Langstone confidently to net a third for Lincoln.
The following 20 minutes saw Burton go head-to-head with the visitors, with Millie Drinkhall and Hajrah Mahmood linking well to create chances, but just struggled to find the final ball to pull one back.
After a strong spell for the Brewers, Lincoln dealt another blow in the 40th minute, as Anna Chambers scored a stunning half-volley from around 35 yards out, with her effort dipping over the head of Langstone and into the far corner of the net.
Burton came out firing in the second half, with Mahmood earning a free-kick just outside the box following an aerial battle. Amber-Leigh Denny claimed the set-piece, and forced a fingertip save out of the Imps’ goalkeeper, resulting in a corner for the Brewers.
As the corner was cleared, Drinkhall rattled the crossbar with a shot from just inside the box, with Mahmood’s follow up effort being gathered by the Lincoln goalkeeper.
The visitors were awarded another penalty in the 61st minute, as Farrah Hoyle brought down Wilcock in the area. Langstone guessed the right way, but McHamilton’s strike found the bottom corner to give Lincoln their sixth goal of the afternoon.
Lincoln netted a further three goals in the 68th, 72nd, and 75th minutes with Katie Williams, Betsy Thomas, and Tilly Fantom all getting in on the act to take the score to 0-8.
Albion will prepare for the final game of the campaign, as they travel to Leafield Athletic on Sunday - meanwhile the Brewers' future division will be confirmed in the next few weeks.