Super Falcons defender Ashleigh Plumptre begins her  career in the Saudi Women’s Premier League career on Saturday with a hat-trick for Al-Ittihad Ladies, which earned them maximum at Eastern Flames FC on Saturday.

The 25-year-old achieved the feat on her official debut for the club following her arrival from Leicester City on September 13, 2023, for an undisclosed fee and terms of contract.

She opened the scoring on 30 minutes by firing home with her left foot in a goalmouth scramble resulting from a corner kick, headed home on 61 minutes to make it 2-0, and rounded off the scoring five minutes later with her left-footed shot outside the box, beating the opposing goalkeeper, who surprisingly blamed her defence line on all three occasions.

The former Notts County player is apparently the star of the side and lived up to that billing, orchestrating the annihilation of their hosts in the game week 1 tie at Prince Fahad bin Salman Stadium Al Nahda, Dammam.

Plumptre had always been known for her defensive prowess at senior club and international levels, but she was an accomplished scorer at youth level.

Predominantly a forward or attacking midfielder at youth level, she scored twice during a 9–0 win over Moldova in the 2015 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship qualifying round.

In 2016, 17-year-old Plumptre was the youngest player named to the under-23 team for the 2016 La Manga Tournament. She made a combined 30 appearances at youth level, scoring 10 goals.

The most she has achieved at senior level is mustering three goals in 62 appearances for Leicester City from 2020–2023.

Plumptre, who represented England atU15, U17, U19, and U23 levels before switching allegiance to Nigeria are without a goal in 15 outings with the Super Falcons since making her international debut.2022.