London Bees earned a hard-fought point on Thursday night at The Den against their local rivals Millwall Lionesses, having struggled in the league last year.
The Bees finished with just 8 points last season and head coach Julian Broomes was thrilled with his “massively improved” side after they managed to hold Millwall to a 0-0 draw.
However Lionesses manager Dan Mlinar took an opposing view, describing the result afterwards as “two points dropped”.
He said: “We were dominant so I thought we were in control of the game, we should have taken all three points but we will take positives from it. We will play worse than that this season and win.”
Although both sides had chances to win it, the Bees will arguably be the happier of the two teams as Millwall registered 6 efforts on target and 4 off target, the best of which fell to 16-year-old Rinsola Babajide on 26 minutes.
Babajide’s lightening pace saw her get on the end of an excellent Lily Agg through-ball first and one-on-one with goalkeeper Sophie Harris. Harris did well to push Babajide wide but the young forward will still be disappointed that she could only put the finish over the bar.
The Bees only threatened once in the first half after Lucy Loomes stole possession from Millwall full-back Leanne Cowan inside the penalty area, but Loomes’ effort was tame and Millwall keeper Sarah Quantrill gathered comfortably.
Both teams looked energised after the break with Cheryl Williams nearly putting the visitors ahead from 25 yards out but not for a fine sprawling save from Quantrill.
Millwall responded almost immediately on the counter attack when Babajide found herself, yet again, one-on-one with the keeper, but Harris produced a fine save, smothering the ball at the striker’s feet.
Babajide had another chance to win it for Millwall on her WSL debut when she beat the offside trap and struck a stinging drive towards goal, that was parried by Harries, before firing the rebound wide under pressure.
She was equally unlucky just after the hour mark, hitting the woodwork with a left-footed effort after an excellent cross from Megan Goss on the right wing.
As the legs tired, London Bees relied on set pieces to create opportunities but were unable to nick it in the closing stages, leaving both teams forced to settle for a share of the points.
A valuable point on the road gained for the Bees to kick start their season, but an opportunity missed for Millwall Lionesses who, for all their chances, should have a first home win under their belts.
