The head coach of Watford Women praised “excellent pro” Helen Ward after she reached another scoring milestone to help her side ease past Crawley Wasps 6-0 to reach the third round of the Women’s FA Cup.

The captain and Welsh international scored twice to reach the 150-goal landmark for the Golden Girls in yesterday's tie as they set up a trip to Championship side Crystal Palace next Sunday.

“It’s unbelievable,” Damon Lathrope told the club website. “To score 150 goals is some accolade for her to pass.

“She’s an excellent pro. She does everything properly, even away from us. I know she works really hard to keep herself in a condition to be able to play 90 minutes at her age, which is not easy.”

Lathrope fully appreciates what Ward, who is Wales’ all-time record scorer and has been capped 100 times, brings to the squad on and off the pitch.

He said: “The experience she’s got around the group for the youngsters is gold dust for us coaches. She’s really good with it, she loves the responsibility. She goes about her work quite quietly, which is nice, but she’s got a presence in the group. Everyone respects her, and she leads by example with what she does and how she operates.”

Watford only had Ward’s penalty to show for a first-half performance in which they were in firm control, but the hosts demonstrated their ruthlessness after the break to put the tie to bed in the early stages of the second period.

“We talked about being patient but also being ruthless at the top end of the pitch because we had some really good possession in the first half and were fairly comfortable, but to only have one goal to show for it was a little bit disappointing,” Ward said.

“The first ten minutes of the second half were the best I’ve seen from us this season, it was relentless. Some really good finishes from players that are hitting top form at the moment, the likes of Poppy (Wilson), Annie (Rossiter) and Flo (Fyfe) really finished their goals well and that put the game to bed.”

Ward was to achieve her landmark moment when she converted from the penalty spot after being pulled down when she looked to attack the front post from a corner.

Wilson, who had been involved in several opportunities in the first half, saw a header tipped onto the post in the opening exchanges after the break as the Hornets increased their intensity.

This was rewarded when midfielder Dre Georgiou showed a forward’s touch to score her third of the season from close range.

This opened the floodgates as Watford scored three goals inside eight minutes with Fyfe and Rossiter converting from inside the area.

Ward then made it five with her 151st goal for the Golden Girls, before Wilson rounded off a fluent attacking move to complete a spell of five goals in 20 minutes.