Thursday 15th September 2016: England Women v Estonia Women

England women went into their Euro 2017 qualifying game against Estonia having already qualified for next years tournament in Holland. England were hoping secure three points and emulate their eight nil demolition of Estonia last September at the start of this qualifying campaign.

England coach Mark Sampson started Danielle Carter for the first time since last September where she picked up a hat-trick in that eight nil thrashing against the same opponents in her only previous appearance for the Lionesses'. Steph Houghton captained the side at Notts County's Meadow Lane making her 74th cap for her country. Jill Scott and Karen Carney both started for the hosts and were Englands joint top scores in qualifying with four goals a piece.

Estonia went into their final qualifying game against England still in search of their first goal despite having conceded 28 times in their other seven qualifying matches.

7,052 were in attendance for the clash at Meadow Lane

England went for a very attacking style from the start and within two minutes Jo Potter had put Carney in a decent position but her attempted cross was blocked.

Carney then put a cracking corner into the box a minute later and managed to pick out England skipper Houghton for a free header which she was unable to steer on target.

Estonia had a half chance early on after a slip by Jordan Nobbs gifted the ball to Estonia's Katrin Loo whose attempted through ball was defended very comfortably by Lucy Bronze.

Nikita Parris then had a great chance to put the hosts ahead after a good cross by Gemma Davison picked out the Manchester City forward in the box but her glancing header went wide.

The hosts finally took the lead in the ninth minute, Davison's wide pass sent Jill Scott on a run down the right flank. A low driven cross found Carter who buried a shot from 12 yards out in the bottom corner.

Davison again proved to cause problems towards Estonia's defence, her cross two minutes after the first goal went to Demi Stokes at the back post but she was unable to to steer her shot on target.

In the 13th minute Stokes presence on the left wing led to the hosts going two nil ahead. Her overlapping run with ball put her in a good cross position. Stokes' good delivery to Parris was met by an equally good shot by the City forward which rattled off the cross bar, Scott's lurking run to the back post turned out to be perfect as she was able to header in the rebound from Parris' chance to put the Lionesses two goals clear.

Captain Houghton's 25 yard free kick two minutes later, was well struck but was unable to test Getter Laar in the Estonian goal.

It wasn't long before the hosts scoring streak continued when they went three nil ahead in the 17th minute. Jill Scott won the ball midway in the Estonian half and managed to pass it to Carter who then picked out strike partner Parris. A good run was made by Parris before unselfishly squaring it back to Carter who was left with a tap in from eight yards out.

Metz 'keeper Larr was clearly lacking confidence and a poor pass by her nearly gifted Davison a fourth goal in the 20th minute but she was able to make amends with a good save.

England Ladies celebrating Carter's second of the evening

Scott's class in the middle of midfield shined for the hosts through out and she nearly set up Nobbs for a good chance but her curling shot from the edge of the box went wide.

Carter nearly sealed her hat-trick on the half hour mark after she was put through on goal following a good pass by Davison but Larr was able to prevent her side going four goals behind.

Manchester City forward Parris was desperate to get on the score sheet and had yet another good chance in the 37th minute but blazed her chance over the bar. She also got on the end of a corner from Carney five minutes later but again was unable to beat Larr.

In the 55th minute, Carter got her hat trick, a well taken free kick by Carney was punched away in a dangerous area by Larr with the ball falling to the feet of Carter who slotted away her chance with the visiting 'keeper left in no mans land to put her side four goals ahead and to pick up her sixth international goal in her second England cap.

Second half substitute Aljona Sassova recieved the first yellow card of the match five minutes after coming on following a strong challenge on England second half substitute Rachel Daly.

Davison continued her impressive first half performance into the second half and continued to cause problems for the visiting full backs. Her cross forced Eneli Vals to a pressurised poor clearance.

Despite the four goal cushion, England continued to show quality particularly in the midfield. Nobbs had a well struck volley go straight at the keeper following some great link up play between Houghton and Carter.

Houghton forced a cracking save from Larr with another well taken free kick curling towards the bottom corner.

Jordan Nobbs again had a good volley that went over and despite looking shaky early on, Nobbs in general had a promising game.

Danielle Carter nearly picked up her fourth on the 90 minute mark when she executed a well time volley off of Demi Stokes' cross but was unable to keep it on target.

Deep into injury time England were awarded a dubious penalty after Karen Carney went down in the box following an aerial duel with Liis Lepik. Lepik was booked for the challenge, Carney herself converted the spot kick straight down the middle to get England's fifth and her fifth of this qualifying campaign.

The game finished five nil to the Lionesses a scoreline which I had surprisingly managed to predict. Estonia barely made it out of their own half for the entire duration of the game and Estonia's goalkeeper was forced to make a lot of important saves.

England as a whole played very well for major parts of the game but did appear to relax for most of the second half. Danielle Carter's second hat-trick on the bounce for her country could see her become a first team regular and leaves coach Mark Sampson with a real selection dilemma for both next years European Championships and their final qualifying fixture against Belgium on Tuesday. Belgium are currently two points behind England in Group seven after their their 3-1 in Serbia on Thursday evening.

As well as Carter, I feel that England's stand out performers were Gemma Davison as she caused havoc for Estonia's left back as well as Jill Scott whose midfield dominance allowed her to control the game comfortably. Karen Carney was also a creative gem for the hosts.