Having been held in the opening 10 minutes by the hosts, the Blues sprang to life, and England international Aggie Beever-Jones showed her prowess in front of goal by netting a quick-fire hat-trick.

The hard work being undertaken during pre-season was evident, with Sonia Bompastor's side producing several long spells of quick passing as we continued to press towards goal. Before the half-time interval, Sandy Baltimore – playing in a more advanced role on the left wing – netted our fourth of the afternoon.

After the break, and plenty of substitutions, Dragoni got off the mark for Chelsea when she pounced following a blocked attempt from Alyssa Thompson.

Maika Hamano got her name on the scoresheet by netting the Blues' sixth through a diving header, before Mayra Ramirez scored her first goal since returning from last season's injury layoff to complete the scoring.

It was a positive run-out for Bompastor's side, which received such a warm welcome in Auckland from our hosts and plenty of applause from the Chelsea supporters inside the stadium.

Lethal Beever-Jones

Bompastor, now into her third season with Chelsea, picked goalkeeper Livia Peng to start the match, and she was protected by a back four of Ellie Carpenter, Kadeisha Buchanan, Naomi Girma and new signing Katie McCabe.

Youngster Lexi Potter got the nod in midfield, and was joined by Sjoeke Nusken and Wieke Kaptein. Baltimore played in an advanced role on the left, with Thompson on the opposite flank and Beever-Jones up front.

Auckland gave a good account of themselves in the early stages but, as the ten-minute mark approached, a long series of passes from the Blues created space for Beever-Jones to shoot, and our Academy graduate slotted home with a low shot into the bottom corner.

One immediately became two from the strike, as she was played in by a lovely reverse pass from Nusken and made no mistake with an angled finish to put the Blues two goals ahead.

In firm control

Beever-Jones was in ruthless form and soon completed her hat-trick with a close-range shot midway through the first half. It put the Blues firmly in charge of the match.

It was then Baltimore's turn to take centre stage, as the France international had a shot well saved, before a brilliant run into the box allowed her to deliver the finish.

We attempted to add to the scoreline before the half-time whistle blew through Buchanan's speculative long-range strike, and when McCabe angled a cross into the box, Kaptein could only shoot straight at the goalkeeper.

Changes bring goals

Bompastor made four alterations to her side at the break, swapping Peng for Hannah Hampton, Buchanan for Veerle Buurman, Girma for Lucy Bronze and handing a first Chelsea appearance for Dragoni, who replaced Potter in midfield.

And the Italian international soon had her maiden goal in blue. Thompson cut into the box from the right-hand side and fired a shot towards goal that was charged down, but Dragoni pounced and netted with a clinical finish.

Victory sealed

On the sixty-minute mark, Bompastor made another raft of changes. One of those introduced was Hamano, who made it six with a powerful diving header from a Ramirez layoff. Another opportunity soon fell to the Japan international just inside the 18-yard box, but this time she blazed her attempt over the crossbar.

Ramirez then got herself on the scoresheet with five minutes remaining, hitting a powerful drive through a crowd of players and into the back of the net to make it seven.

This was a good workout for the Blues, which put valuable minutes into the legs and got the goals flowing once more.

What comes next...

The Blues travel to Sydney, Australia, for a game against an A-League All-Stars side on Wednesday 12 August. You can watch the game live on the Chelsea Official App and website by signing in.

The teams

Chelsea: Peng (Hampton 46); Carpenter (Sarwie 60), Buchanan (c) (Buurman 46), Girma (Bronze 46), McCabe (Las 63); Nusken, Potter (Dragoni 46), Kaptein; Baltimore (Brown 62), Thompson (Hamano 61), Beever-Jones (Ramirez 64)
Unused subs: Cox
Scorers: Beever-Jones 10, 13, 23, Baltimore 26, Dragoni 55, Hamano 65, Ramirez 85

Auckland FC: Harris (Iro 71), Barry (Granger 86), Anton (Bennett 87), Erceg (c), Prakash (Lancaster 46), Jackson, Hayashi, Chance (Jensen 46), Medwin (Vosper 86), Jenkins (Bacelli 70), Trimis
Substitutes: Doughty, Nathan, Green, Winter, Ingham, O'Neill

Referee: Sarah Jones