AFC Bournemouth women produced a stunning display in Cornwall, beating St Austell Ladies 6-1 in their final National League action of 2022. 

Lucy Cooper stole the show with an impressive four goals, in what was her first hat-trick for Steve Cuss' side, while Molly Clark and Hannah Hughes were also on the scoresheet. 

It leaves the Cherries second in the table, with seven wins from their 11 league fixtures so far this term. 

After the game, a delighted Steve Cuss spoke with afcb.co.uk about his side's performance and clinical finishing throughout the game. 

"It was a good way to end the year and a really good performance," he said. 

"I thought we were good with the ball and we did well in terms of creating chances - we obviously took six of those so it was a pleasing all round performance. 

"In terms of Lucy Cooper, she's done really well. She came into the side as a 16 year-old last year. She hit the ground running and scored a lot of goals. She's carried on that this season, but this is the first time that she's scored a hat-trick for us. I'm delighted for her as she works hard. 

"Hannah Hughes also got on the scoresheet and that's another pleasing factor. We had eight teenagers in the squad and she is someone that we think a lot of. She's been in and out of the side and floating between the first team and the development squad. You could see the delight on her face when she got the goal. I'm really pleased for her." 

Cuss went on to explain how the long trip to Cornwall allowed his side to spend time some away from the pitch together, before taking to it on Sunday. 

"We had the fixture in and it's a fair distance down to Cornwall. We thought we were asking a lot of the players to do that all in one day like we normally do. We stayed overnight in a hotel just outside the ground and it was a different experience for the players. 

"It's something we wanted to do and I think the players coped with it really well. It was nice to spend a bit of extra time together and we watched the England game on Saturday night, so it was great from that point of view. 

"It's certainly different for the players, but they handled themselves in the right manner and it was a good thing to do as it showed in the performance." 

Cuss concluded by providing an update on the Christmas period, with the final action of 2022 now completed and no further fixtures pencilled in until the new year. 

"We'll try and balance the next few weeks off with a bit of fitness testing to compare where we are with pre-season stats. We'll also do a bit of training over the period. 

"We'll also allow ourselves a little bit of rest as well, so we can enjoy the break and come back in the new year all ready to go again."