DESPITE their recent successes in the West Riding County Cup, Bradford City Women struggled against high-flying Newcastle United on their return to FA Women's National League Division One North action.

Their home ground of Eccleshill was packed with 120 fans for Sunday’s game, but they went home disappointed after seeing the North-East side go top with a 6-1 win.

The Bantams struggled in the first 20 minutes, and the Magpies quickly worked out their weaknesses, pressuring from the start.

So unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before Newcastle’s Lauren Robson headed home a corner past keeper Hannah Richards to give her side the lead.

Not long after, tensions flared between City skipper Katy Woodcock and the referee, who quickly put his foot down and sin-binned her.

Fortunately, the depleted defence, led by Bantams veteran Charlotte Stuart, managed to remain strong in the face of adversity.

At the 30-minute mark, Newcastle’s Georgia Gibson struck a free-kick brilliantly, but Richards kept it out with a superb save.

Newcastle dominated the rest of the first half, yet they couldn’t profit with a second goal, leaving them only 1-0 up at half-time.

The Bantams ladies had something to prove in the second half, as they quickly pressed from the get-go, but a tactical foul from Newcastle halted them in their tracks.

Midfielder Maisie Norde stepped up to the plate and curved her free-kick towards the goal.

After a scramble in the box, newcomer Hope Knight managed to get her foot on the ball and knocked it into the net to equalise.

That joy was short-lived as Newcastle quickly punished their hosts just 10 minutes later.

Richards was forced to make another save, but the rebound found the Magpies' Katie Barker, who tapped the ball into the goal, giving her side the lead once again.

Things quickly went from bad to worse as Bethany Guy took a shot 40 yards from goal.

Richards tried to save it but the ball skimmed off her gloves and made the net bulge for Newcastle’s third goal.

After 71 minutes, Barker got her second goal of the match, as she smashed a volley into the net.

Not too long after, she made it a hat-trick, as she tapped the ball past Richards when through one-on-one.

The Bantams managed to hold the visitors off further until right at the end, but Newcastle substitute Becky Ferguson made her mark and scored goal number six for Newcastle.

After a tough and punishing game for the Bantams, manager Chris Hames was still proud of the team’s performance, but believed they needed to be a lot stronger.

He said: “Newcastle were brilliant from the first whistle, we just had to grow into the game.

“I thought the first 60 minutes were positive, as we limited them to half-chances, and we deserved that equaliser.

“We have to reflect on what happened from when we went behind though, as that response was not good enough.”

Bradford City Women will travel to Durham Cestria this coming weekend, as they look to move away from the lower reaches of the league table.