Arsenal ladies in rich form

Marieanne Spacey scored twice for the Gunners

By women's football correspondent Claire Gray

Liverpool 0-10 Arsenal

Arsenal sent a clear warning out to the rest of the Premiership as they dealt Liverpool a crushing blow up on Merseyside.

The Gunners inflicted a heavy 10-0 defeat upon Barbara Nodwell's side to chalk up their fourth successive victory in emphatic fashion.

Angela Banks continued her rich vein of form in front of goal with four impressive strikes, two in each half, while England international Marieanne Spacey grabbed a goal either side of the interval.

Jane Ludlow and Ciara Grant were also on target for the visitors who, rubbing salt into Liverpool's already gaping wounds, saw Reds' keeper Julie Sykes and Dawn Kehoe put the ball in the back of their own net.

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Tranmere 0-0 Charlton

Three weeks after the season began, Charlton Athletic began their title defence at last, but were lucky to scrape a draw up at Tranmere Rovers.

The game eventually finished goalless but Rovers were aggrieved by the referee's decision to disallow what appeared to be two perfectly good goals in the dying minutes of the match.

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Doncaster Belles 3-1 Southampton Saints

Elsewhere, Doncaster Belles made sure that Arsenal did not begin the week as the only side in the top flight with a 100% record as they maintained their perfect start to the season with a comfortable 3-1 win over Southampton Saints.

The Yorkshire outfit, with England international Karen Burke making her first appearance for the Belles since her closed season switch from Everton, opened the scoring after just 10 minutes through the ever-impressive Karen Walker and just 22 minutes in found themselves 2-0 up courtesy of a cheeky back heel from Melanie Garside.

An Una Nwajei strike gave the visitors some hope on the hour but a delightful volley from Amanda Barr in the dying minutes secured another important three points for last year's runners-up.

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Everton 2-0 Millwall Lionesses

Everton's first victory of the new campaign arrived at the third attempt as they saw off a competent Millwall Lionesses side at College Road.

The Blues bounced back from their somewhat complacent display down at Southampton Saints last weekend to secure all three points although the Lionesses did not make it easy for them.

Everton keeper Andrea Worrall was forced to pull off a magnificent stop in the second half while, the Blues had defender Jeanette Hill to thank for preserving their first clean sheet of the season through a miraculous goal line clearance.

Former Doncaster Belles star Chantelle Woodward grabbed her first goal in Everton colours after just 17 minutes. But the Blues had to wait until three minutes from time to make sure of the points when Jody Hanley scored in her second consecutive match following some good work by Kelly Shimin.