Match Centre: England Women 6-0 Northern Ireland

A hat-trick from Ellen White helped England get a new era off to the best possible start, as the Lionesses saw off Northern Ireland by 6-0 on Tuesday afternoon.

The Manchester City striker helped herself to two first-half goals at St George’s Park, before Lucy Bronze added a third ahead of the break in a barnstorming performance from the home side.

White’s third wasn’t far behind as she fired in just after the interval, before Rachel Daly made it five with a poacher’s effort as she latched onto Bronze’s ball into the middle.

Ella Toone added a debut goal from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to play, as Hege Riise’s spell in charge got off to the perfect start with a comprehensive victory in Staffordshire.

The Lionesses signalled their intent right from the off, with White's first effort of the afternoon being smothered by visiting goalkeeper Becky Flaherty in the early stages.

And the visiting shot-stopper had to be on her toes once again within the opening ten minutes, as she repelled Bronze’s close-range header to keep the scores level.

But Flaherty was left helpless soon after, as White was gifted possession on the edge of the Northern Irish penalty area after a wayward pass from the visitors and calmly slotted home her 37th international goal into the bottom corner.

And her 38th wasn’t far behind, as the 31 year old latched onto Bronze’s centre before directing a header inside the far post to double the hosts’ advantage midway through the first half.

Bronze then got herself on the scoresheet just before the half-hour mark, as the right-back ghosted into the penalty area to convert Lauren Hemp’s cross  the Lionesses the convincing lead their performance deserved.

That’s the way the scores stayed until the break, but it didn’t take England long to get their fourth after the interval, as White capped off her fantastic performance to earn herself the match ball.

The sensational striker collected captain Jill Scott’s pass while shrugging off the attention of Julie Nelson on the turn, before fizzing in her third of the game with an unstoppable effort past Flaherty.

Tuesday’s affair was a special occasion for Scott, as she made her 150th international appearance, becoming just the second woman to do so after Fara Williams, and marked the occasion with a dominant performance in the centre of the park.

The visitors continued to hustle for every ball, and looked to spark an attack of their own as Rachel Furness flicked a ball into the channel, only for Simone Magill’s cross to be collected by Ellie Roebuck in the England goal.

It could've been even better for White soon after, when she thought she had a fourth on the hour mark, only for her effort from Chloe Kelly’s centre to be chalked off for offside.

But England’s fifth wasn’t far off, as Daly converted Bronze’s inch-perfect ball into the penalty area, giving the Houston Dash winger a well-deserved goal after a superb performance on the wing.

After being introduced in the second half, Kelly was causing all sorts of problems for the Northern Irish defence, and that proved too much for Rebecca Holloway, who brought the striker down as she rampaged into the penalty area.

The task fell to Manchester United’s Toone to take the spot-kick, and the England debutant made no mistake from 12 yards, as she calmly sent Flaherty the wrong way to round off the scoring.