The only blot on an otherwise spotless performance for Chelsea Women in our last friendly before the start of the season was injuries which forced Sophie Ingle and Niamh Charles off, but apart from that things couldn't have gone much better.

Within the first eight minutes we had already taken a two-goal lead, with a pair of similar finishes from the centre of the box by Sandy Baltimore and Mayra Ramirez. By half-time we had doubled that advantage, via a brilliant shot into the top corner from Sjoeke Nusken and a close-range finish by Wieke Kaptein.

We did one better after the break, beginning when Millie Bright headed in from a corner. Our substitutes then took over, as Maika Hamano set up Aggie Beever-Jones before netting herself, then Beever-Jones scored twice late in the game to grab a 27-minute hat-trick.

Sprinting out of the blocks

There was plenty of early pressure from the Blues, resulting in some close calls. That triggered a series of corners and before long we made our dominance count. It was one of the three home debutants who opened the scoring, taking less than five minutes to get off the mark at Kingsmeadow.

Baltimore showed clever movement to beat the offside trap as the Feyenoord defenders attempted to push out from deep inside the box and the ball was put back in low by Nusken, before Sandy nudged a finish past the keeper as she rushed off the line.

Feyenoord had barely had time to catch their breath when Chelsea got a second. This time it was all about persistence, with Ramirez one of three Blues refusing to let the attack fizzle out as the Dutch defenders got a foot in on the edge of the box. The Colombian came out with the ball and composed herself before slotting into the bottom corner.

Chelsea nearly had a third midway through the first half, when James recycled a cleared corner to find Charles near the penalty spot. Her header had the keeper beaten, but Amber Verspaget got back in time to clear from under the crossbar for Feyenoord.

The home side were comfortably weathering Feyenoord’s attacks, marshalled excellently at the back as ever by skipper Bright, while at the other end the combination of Lauren James and Charles down our left was causing Feyenoord constant problems, as was the skill of Baltimore in the middle.

Out of sight

We got our third moments later. It was a beautiful looping finish by Nusken, who punished our opponents for failing to clear their lines by finding the top corner from just outside the box.

There was a brief moment of concern when Romee van de Lavoir spotted Musovic off her line and attempted a lob from halfway, but the Blues keeper recovered in time to save. However, it was largely one-way traffic now, and Feyenoord cleared another off their line after James’ curling effort was deflected up and over the keeper.

The only downside to an otherwise perfect 45 minutes for Chelsea was a shoulder injury for Charles after falling awkwardly, needing her to be replaced by Ashley Lawrence. There was still time for one more Blues goal before the break, though, as some good play down the right from Lucy Bronze and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd ended with the latter cutting a pass back for Kaptein to score her first goal for the club.

Keeping the intensity

Despite changes at half-time from both managers, there was no letting up by the Blues, as shown when Ramirez raced forward to win possession high up the pitch straight from Feyenoord’s kick-off.

Given our dominance, it was a bit of a surprise it took us more than 15 minutes of the second half to get our next goal. It arrived before too long though, when Bright got across the front post well from a corner to glance a header across goal, which bounced through the bodies and crept inside the far post.

Things kept getting better for the Blues too. There was another set-back as Sophie Ingle was forced off with an injury, in a flurry of substitutions by both teams, but smiles were soon back on faces in the stands at Kingsmeadow. One of those subs, Aggie Beever-Jones, scored with her first touch, heading in a free-kick from another who just been introduced, Maika Hamano.

Hamano then took matters into her own hands to get on the scoresheet herself, drilling a low shot into the bottom left corner from outside the area. There was time for one more goal to finish things off in style, when Beever-Jones raced clear to get her second when one-on-one. What a way to finish pre-season!

What's next

The next action for Chelsea is the start of the Women's Super League in two weeks, back here at Kingsmeadow, when we host Aston Villa at 7pm on Friday 20 September.

The teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Musovic; Bronze, Bright (c) (Mpome 74), Buchanan (Bjorn 63), Charles (Lawrence 45); Nusken, Kaptein (Ingle h-t) (Perisset 74); Rytting Kaneryd (Hamano 63), Baltimore (Bernabe 74), James (Reiten 63); Ramirez (Beever-Jones 63)
Unused sub: Hampton
Scorers: Baltimore 5, Ramirez 8, Nusken 32, Kaptein 45+3, Bright 62, Beever-Jones 75, 85, 90+2, Hamano 77

Feyenoord (4-4-2): Szymczak; Koga (Mulder 66), Verspaget, Obispo (Van Bentem 30), Brandau (Heij h-t); Van de Lavoir (Braun 66), Waldus (c) (Lont 66), Teulings (Baubadi 66), De Graaf (Oudejans 66); Conijnenberg (Balkhir 66), Van Kerkhoven (Koopmans h-t)
Unused sub: Weimer, Eijk
Booked: Obispo 28
Sent off: Obispo 29