DARTMOUTH extended their unbeaten record and went second in the league with a stable performance in Totnes.

Dartmouth made their intentions clear from the start in this local derby, quickly drawing numerous short corners which a stubborn Dart defence managed effectively and cleared.

Dartmouth wingers Shin Patel and Robyn Rendle were busy from the off, probing and leading well from the front.

A strong midfield allowed quick movement off the ball to launch attacks and, in one of these, Sara Barrett cut open the defence and passed the ball to Lucy Pillar.

She in turn slipped it to Robyn Rendle, who crossed for Sarah Barrett to fire home.

Barrett nearly made it two soon after as she collected well outside the D and cleverly flicked the ball only to see it just drift over the bar.

Dart did not sit back and countered strongly, which led to a well-taken individual goal to make it all even and shake Dartmouth into life.

But, as Dartmouth pushed up in attack, they were once again cut open in a counter and had goalie Ellie Malley to thank as she stood firm to clear. Dartmouth made some slight tactical changes with substitutions of Jody Chater and Kitty Parker, both of whom contributed well.

This allowed Lucy Pillar to push up with immediate results as she received the ball in the D and made no mistake to give Dartmouth the lead into half-time.

In the second half, Dartmouth's defensive trio of Julie Pillar, Chloe Edwards and player of the match Hannah Pillar worked hard all match.

Indeed, Hannah was involved in many of the counter-attacks and kept the right side very strong. The return of Jamie Rendle brought further stability to the midfield, where she linked well with Di Bradley, who fired numerous crosses in for the forwards to deal with.

Dart's hard-working goalie and a busy defence continued to frustrate Dartmouth, but hesitation near the goal after a scramble for the ball let Lucy Pillar pounce on the ball to push it home for her second goal.

This was a comfortable win for Dartmouth, which could have seen more goals, especially in the last 10 minutes where fitness gave them the edge.

Dartmouth welcome Sidmouth 2nds to BRNC tomorrow, but expect to rest some senior players to give more match time to the younger squad members.