By Mark Gleeson BBC Sport, Johannesburg

Four-goal hero Perpetua Nkwocha celebrates her second

Defending champions Nigeria beat Cameroon 5-0 in the Johannesburg Stadium on Sunday to win the African Women's Championship for a record fourth time.

Perpetua Nkwocha turned the final into a personal triumph, scoring four goals as Nigeria hammered the Indomitable Lionesses in a one-sided final.

Nkwocha scored her hat-trick inside the first half and added one more in the second as the Super Falcons maintained their position as the undisputed queens of women's football on the continent.

Vera Okolo got a deserved goal eight minutes from the end when Nkwocha turned provider with a brilliant pass into the Cameroon penalty area, where Okolo had an easy finish.

The Super Falcons have won every edition of the women's championship ever played - in 1998, 2000, 2002 and now 2004.

Nkwocha will not forget this fourth success, with the forward being named the tournament's best player in addition to picking up the leading goalscorer award, finishing the two-week event with nine goals.

The first of her four goals was the best, breaking the deadlock after 15 minutes with a stunning long-range free-kick that dipped just inside the right-hand post of Cameroon goalkeeper Elvire Mbappe.

Poor marking by Cameroon allowed Nkwocha her second as she side-footed home a square cross from Okolo, who also turned in a sprightly performance.

The pint-sized Okolo then set up Nkwocha's third as the Nigerian completed her hat-trick three minutes before the interval.

On the hourmark, poor defending in the Indomitable Lionesses' defence allowed Nkwocha an unchallenged shot which she converted to give her side a four-goal lead.

Cameroon hold Nigeria

Cameroon, who had held Nigeria to a 2-2 draw last week in the group stages of the finals, were never a match for the motivated Super Falcons.

The best chance for the shell-shocked Lionesses came in first-half stoppage time when Antoinette Anounga rounded the Nigerian goalkeeper but was then caught by the defence before she had the chance to steer the ball into an empty net.

True to form at this event, the game tapered off in the last quarter-hour as both teams ran out of steam, with fitness having proved a real problem for all the sides at the eight-team championship.

The match was watched by a crowd of some 5,000 Nigerian expatriates and a further 2,000 Cameroonians, with the Johannesburg Stadium only half-full for the final.