Club captain Helen Ward came off the bench to score four times as Watford Women thumped Crawley Wasps 6-0 to leave them in good shape for their big clash with leaders Oxford United.

The Golden Girls took a while to get going and only had Annie Rossiter’s 22nd-minute goal to show for their first-half efforts. But the introduction of Ward at the interval saw the hosts take complete control in the second half as they swept aside the basement club.

Watford remain in fourth in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division after the win, four points behind Oxford who visit Grosvenor Vale for a 2pm kick-off on Sunday.

“We’re in a good place at the moment,” head coach Damon Lathrope told the club website. “I think the performances in the last five or six weeks have been exceptional. They’re training really well and we’re really confident going into the weekend, but we know it’s going to be tough - they’re at the top for a reason.”

Reflecting on how the game unfolded, he said: “We were a little bit slow to get going. They were very spirited while it was goalless. It gives them something to really cling on to, and they worked hard, so fair play to Crawley because it was a tough night for them.

“We knew we had a little bit more quality in us than I think we showed in the first half, but the second half was very good. We upped the intensity, upped the quality levels, and it was a fair scoreline in the end.”

After the start of the match had been delayed due to traffic, Rossiter looked the sharpest player on the pitch and she flashed an early wide, had another effort blocked before making the breakthrough when the Crawley keeper parried a Bianca Baptiste shot into her path.

Lathrope was forced into an early change with Sophie McLean replacing the injured Jade Bradley, before making a further three substitutions at the interval, including replacing Faye Brough with Ward.

The Welsh international was on the scoresheet within six minutes of entering the fray, heading home a Nicola Gibson cross. Her second followed ten minutes later when she lifted the ball after Naomi Gross in the Crawley goal, and she completed her hat-trick in the 75th minute from a McLean delivery.

Ward wasn’t finished though, scoring another from close range, before Dre Georgiou added the sixth in stoppage time.

“We anticipated it would be the way it was in the second half and we anticipated that we’d create lots of opportunities, which we did,” said Lathrope.

“We needed the right person in the right place at the right time, and we know that’s what Hels offers us. She’s taken her chances really well, and she’s going away with a match ball that she deserves.”