A goal from Ella Cahill and hattrick from Ruby Vinton secured a comfortable lead in the first half, with braces from Lindsay Morgan, Hayleigh Jenkins and Cahill joining Emily Ager on the scoresheet in the second.

From the whistle, the U's introduced the visitors to their signature fast-paced style of play, with a well-timed C Craddock-Ball assist to L Morgan demanding a save from Corinthians' keeper in the opening two minutes. Despite a physical response, the sixth minute saw an aerial delivery from Ager allow Cahill to find Morgan with a deft nod, Morgan turning the defender to play the ball square back to Cahill for a roof of the net finish.

Even with the early lead, Corinthians had a taste for goal and used their physicality well to keep most of the play in the centre of the pitch with a number of through-ball attempts. Quick-thinking form Deben Howlett and Niamh Gamble in particular shut out the majority of attacks though, comfortably-worked triangles of play with Sophie Farrow and J Craddock-Ball showing the chemistry that has been established among the defence. Such was the security of the back four, keeper Jamie Newstead had few touches beyond pass-backs and collecting of wayward balls, although relentless attempts from Corinthians to break through the back line demanded constant work from the home team.

U's attacks were spread out across the pitch, with right-winger Jenkins also finding a lot of opportunities to show her pace to deliver floated crosses to Cahill and Morgan. Adams found herself in the thick of the action most of the time in midfield, keeping a cool head under pressure to deliver composed balls to the wing or finding routes out of trouble. The twentieth minute saw a significant opportunity following a deflected Morgan corner being redelivered to the back post, a finish by Ager being denied by a pacey bounce off the wet pitch. With further attacks and exquisite through-balls from the midfield to Cahill though, it seemed only a matter of time before the scoreline increased.

The twenty-seventh minute saw Vinton come on for Ager, taking on defenders and sending in great balls for Cahill. It took just three minutes before Vinton brought down a cross from Morgan to find the net and double the team's lead.

Vinton's method of chasing every loose ball and hassling defenders paid off again in the thirty-sixth, a misplaced clearance from the keeper being punished from well outside the box with a weighted lob.

Corinthians displayed less aggression for the latter minutes of the first half, allowing the U's space to set up neat one-twos and show methods of play that have clearly been worked on at their Shrub End training ground. Adams was unfortunate not to find her name on the scoresheet in the forty-fifth, just missing the target after a Gamble-Vinton-Morgan build-up, but as the first half ate into a minute of added time, Vinton secured her hattrick with a right-foot placed finish after being seen by Morgan, bringing the half-time score to 4-0.

The second half saw Devall don her Number One shirt, with Gamble, J Craddock-Ball and Jenkins making way for the fresh legs of Mowatt, J Morgan and White soon after. It was clear that the team weren't being complacent with the lead, anticipating a resurgence from Corinthians, but the opening minutes suggested a match that would continue in the U's favour.

Composed one-twos between Farrow and Vinton on the left wing in the fifty-seventh saw a placed shot get round the keeper towards the back post, but with a defender's goal-line clearance on the cards, L Morgan made sure it found its target.

Four minutes later, Cahill added two more goals to her own tally to secure a hattrick: the first following an impressive medley of passing from the halfway line in the sixty-first, the second coming from a simple setup after a hard-worked attack from Vinton in the sixty-third.

Following substitutions of Cahill and C Craddock-Ball for Ager and Newstead, Morgan again found the target in the sixty-seventh minute, beating the keeper to the ball and bringing the tally to 8-0.

More substitutions followed with Gamble and J Craddock-Ball replacing Morgan and Adams, Jenkins replacing Vinton soon after. The weight of play continued to rest in the visitors' half, at one point with all but Devall standing in the visitors' end. Such was the high line being played, a lot of action occurred on the perimeter of a heavily-guarded area, with the U's trying to find a way through the crowd. The opportunity eventually arose in the seventy-fifth when J Craddock-Ball intercepted a clearance, threading a ball for Ager to unleash a strike over the keeper from just inside the box to secure the U's ninth goal.

The eighty-fifth minute saw Jenkins make the score 10-0 after a loose ball was played back from Ager to White, making the keeper a bystander. A number of attempts on goal occurred from this point, notably with Gamble being denied by the keeper on a couple of occasions after well-worked play, but the final goal for the day fell again to Jenkins from a free-kick delivered with the precision for which she has become known.

The scoreline didn't fairly represent an impressive performance from Corinithians' number one, whose saves throughout the game denied a number of attempts and received warm recognition from both teams and supporters.

The U's face another cup game next Sunday in the second round of the BBC Essex County Cup away to Toby FC.

Colchester United Women starting XI: Adams, Ager, Cahill, J Craddock-Ball, C Craddock-Ball, Farrow, Gamble, Howlett, Jenkins, L Morgan, Newstead

Subs: Devall, J Morgan, Mowatt, Vinton

Player of the match: Adams