The Belles produced arguably their best result of the season as they downed on-form Hull City at the Chesterfield Poultry Stadium.
The visitors arrived in Moorends on a run of seven consecutive wins and eying top spot in FAWNL Division One.
But goals from Izzy Gigg, Arianne Parnham and Jasmine Saxton saw the Belles deliver a commanding victory to dent the promotion hopes of another side, having picked up notable results against Barnsley and Durham Cestria in recent weeks.
The Tigresses arrived in South Yorkshire just two points off the top of the table and looked to be showing their quality in the opening quarter as Amy Pollock found the back of the net, only to see the offside flag raised.
It proved to be an incident that kicked the Belles into life and they took the lead on 20 minutes.A great ball from Lindsey Tugby-Andrew in the heart of midfield found Gigg on the right and she opted to go alone and squeeze a shot in at the near post for the lead.
The visitors responded well though and had the ball in the back of the net again just five minutes later through ex-Belle Hope Knight but the referee chalked the goal off for a foul on goalkeeper Ellie Sharpe.
City enjoyed much of the ball in the opening period but a strong defensive display saw the Belles bat everything away before Saxton found the half’s final chance but her low shot was saved by Georgia Wattam.
Hull looked to have started the second 45 strong with Shakala Brookes drawing a save from Sharpe but that would be the visitors’ final chance at striking level.
Just nine minutes into the second half ,Hannah McWilliams showed great determination to hunt down a loose ball before firing in a superb cross that Parnham was able to meet and turn home with an equally impressive finish to give the Belles daylight.
Gigg sent in a beautifully floated ball for Saxton, who could only glance a header wide of the far post.
That was a warning sign and on 67 minutes were made to pay as Saxton plucked a long ball out of the sky to go one-on-one and smartly slot beyond Wattam for further comfort.
The Belles’ second half scorers almost linked up in the final quarter of an hour with Saxton releasing Parnham with the goal at her mercy but she fired agonisingly wide.
Brookes found another late opportunity for the visitors but Sharpe was equal again with another low save.
And matters got even worse for City in the final minutes as Chloe Copsey saw red for a late challenge.
Saxton almost converted a smart set-piece routine in the final moments but her shot was cleared off the line.
Belles: Sharpe, Housley (R Johnson), Abadi (Chitengu), Rattenbury, J. Tugby-Andrew, Gigg (Morris), Saxton, McWilliams (Sneddon 86), L. Tugby-Andrew, Yates, Parnham (Barlow 86).
