A Katie Barker brace and goals from Georgia Gibson and Emma Kelly blew away the visitors in the first half, before Barker completed her hat-trick and both Hannah Greenwood and Tyler Dodds got in on the act in the second.

The win means Becky Langley's side still have a five-point lead at the top of the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division.

Newcastle scored 11 in the last match before the new year and began the clash with Halifax with the same attacking intent.

Dodds picked out Gibson in behind with a good pass and following a parry from the midfielder's cross, Barker was in the right place to put the Magpies ahead within just three minutes.

Langley's team kept coming, with Kelly driving through the midfield before her shot was deflected wide. From the resulting corner. Elysia Boddy placed the ball on the head of Charlotte Potts but the defender's goalbound effort was cleared off the line.

The visitors responded and after breaking through in behind, Darcie Greene's left-footed effort was saved well by Grace Donnelly. But with 14 minutes on the clock, Newcastle doubled their lead; Jasmine McQuade's pinpoint cross to the back post was met by Gibson, who made no mistake to put the Magpies firmly in the driving seat.

Just as the tempo of the match had stagnated somewhat, Barker sparked it into life once more when she cut in from the left and curled an unstoppable strike into the top corner, making it 3-0 to Langley's side - a worthy reward for the early pressure.

Gibson wanted her second of the game too, breaking into the box before seeing a low shot held by Becky Flaherty. Newcastle didn't settle for 3-0, though, with Bridget Galloway's audacious overhead kick going narrowly wide of the post.

Despite United's pressure, Halifax carried a threat on the break but, after getting beyond the Newcastle defence, Lucy Sowerby blazed her effort wide of the target.

As half-time approached, Galloway controlled a cross inside the box before laying the ball off to Kelly on the edge of the box. With the help of a deflection, Kelly's fierce drive outfoxed Flaherty and put the Magpies four to the good.

Moments later, a wonderful move that involved Barker, Galloway and McQuade resulted in the latter being agonisingly denied by the post, as Newcastle looked to press home further advantage over the visitors.

In a flurry of action on the stroke of the interval, Elysia Boddy hammered a long-range effort off the bar before Galloway's follow-up was saved by Flaherty, and then McQuade was thwarted by a goal-line block from the resulting rebound.

At the start of the second half, Barker hunted for her hat-trick, cutting in off the left and seeing her attempt deflected behind. The striker wasn't to be denied minutes late, however, as the forward reacted first inside the box to finish after substitute Greenwood had a low shot parried.

The one-way traffic continued, but Gibson's left-footed effort on the edge of the box was turned over the bar by Flaherty. But no sooner had Gibson been denied, than the Magpies had a sixth when Greenwood's low finish flew through the crowd into the back of the net.

McQuade tried her luck twice, as she tried to get in on the act, but Flaherty was equal to her attempts on both occasions.

Not content with six, Newcastle searched for a seventh. Barker's cross from the left was met by the head of Dodds, but the winger's attempt went narrowly wide.

It was the Magpies' number seven who got the seventh of the afternoon after she pinched the ball on the edge of the box before cutting on her left and arrowing a left-footed shot into the top corner to open her account in a black and white shirt.

In the closing stages, Halifax had an opportunity to lower the deficit, but Greene struck the ball wide of the target.

But it was Langley's side who dominated and United took the three points, retaining their advantage at the top of the league and continuing the impressive run of results.

Newcastle United Women: Grace Donnelly, Daisy Burt, Naomi Bedeau (Sharna Wilkinson 60), Charlotte Potts (c), Tyler Dodds, Elysia Boddy (Hannah Greenwood 46), Emma Kelly, Katie Barker (Kacie Elson 75), Georgia Gibson (Amber-Keegan Stobbs 60), Jasmine McQuade (Cara Milne-Redhead 75), Bridget Galloway

Subs not used: None

Report by Joseph Nelson