SWINDON Topcats secured their best win of the season when defeating Whitley Squaws 7-1.

The win was the Link Centre girls' fifth victory in as many games and send them top of the English Women’s Premier League.

The hosts started brightly and took the lead after five minutes when some good work from captain Ruth Leopold and Rebecca Da Cova set up player-of-the-match Emma Hindmarch to net.

Topcats failed to take full advantage of their dominance and had to wait until the 18th minute to score again when Hindmarch bagged her second with Leopold and Rebecca Osman getting the assists.

The Squaws pulled a goal back midway through the second period when Stephanie Towns fired the puck beyond Gemma Davies.

However, Hindmarch completed her hat-trick to restore the two-goal lead in the 38th minute.

Da Cova made it 4-1 soon after following some good work from Emma Collins and Ashleigh Loftus-Thorne.

In the final period, the hosts relaxed a little and that allowed them to stretch their lead even further when Da Cova struck a fine solo effort before Loftus-Thorne and Osman completed the scoring.

“Our game wasn’t as pretty in parts as we would have hoped for but a 7-1 win was a great for us as we were missing our captain (Becky Inker) due to GB duties and we are still getting used to playing without a couple of players that have had to stop playing this season,” admitted player-coach Becci Osman.

“Whitley have been a tough team for us as we have had to meet them twice at our play-offs for the last two seasons and it’s always been a very tight game.

“Our lines are still getting used to playing together after having to make changes and everything seems to be getting better with every game.

“We have few games coming up and we are looking to keep our top spot.”

The Topcats are next in action on Sunday, February 14 when they travel to Chelmsford to take on the Cobras (12.30pm).