Whitby's Beth Mead hat-trick takes England to victory in World Cup qualifier

Beth Mead celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game. Credit: PA Images

Whitby-born Beth Mead's hat-trick from the bench helped the England Lionesses maintain their flawless start to the FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland.

Mead was left out of the Great Britain Olympic team but has starred for Arsenal and England and her hat-trick in less than 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute proved decisive in a previously hard-fought match.

Beth Mead (second left) celebrates with team-mates after scoring their side's first goal. Credit: PA Images

The visitors had defended resolutely at Wembley and put their bodies on the line until Mead's introduction but she scored with her first touch just moments after coming onto the field, a brilliant finish on the turn past goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns.

Another substitute, Bethany England, scored the Lionesses' second with the final touch on Lauren Hemp's goalbound cross-shot.

Mead then volleyed home Hemp's cross at the back post before tapping into an empty net in the 78th minute to bring up her hat-trick.

Beth Mead celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game.

Beth says the experience is "beyond words."

The result ensures England remain top of the group, with this their lowest number of goals in the campaign so far after thrashing North Macedonia 8-0 and knocking 10 past Luxembourg.

Beth Mead applauds the fans after the qualifying match at Wembley Stadium. Credit: PA Images

"Of course I'm very happy with this win, in the beginning I thought it was a very hard game because they dropped deep very far - we knew that of course and we created a lot of chances, we just had to keep patient to create even more chances and score the goal," Wiegman said.

"Finally we did, we brought some new players on the pitch and they made a difference so that's really good that you can see this team has depth, can play very well but if we need to change and bring some new energy that that's really good too.

"I'm really happy with this team accomplishment."

Northern Ireland's eight-game winning run in competitive fixtures came to an end and manager Kenny Shiels admitted his side were not physically able to keep up with England.

"I don't think we played anywhere near what we can. England have got superior fitness, superior strength, superior size, superior speed, which restricted our normal game," the Northern Ireland boss said.