Substitute Jess King salvaged a late point for Everton, rising from the bench to net a pivotal equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Millwall Lionesses.
The two sides struggled to be separated in the opening exchanges, with Claudia Walker earning the first chance of the game after ten minutes, but her shot rebounded off the underside of the crossbar.
And despite an attempt from Everton’s Lucy Whipp testing goalkeeper Sarah Quantrill, it was the hosts who earned the best chance of the half.
With a dangerous free-kick awarded on 33 minutes, Everton goalkeeper Megan Walsh was called upon to make a tremendous reaction to Lillie Billson’s turbulent effort – only for Dionne Lennon to place the rebound wide from just six yards out.
However, the Lionesses were able to draw first blood, with on-loan Chelsea forward Rosella Ayane opening the scoring on 62 minutes, courtesy of a defensive mix-up for the Toffees. With Walsh’s clearance striking defender Lindsay Johnson on the chest, Ayane was able to collect the loose ball and knock it in to an empty net to celebrate her first goal for her new club.
Nevertheless, King emerged from the bench to ensure the points were shared on Sunday afternoon, after blasting home a free-kick with three minutes remaining on the clock.
Having taken all three points on the opening day of the season while also soaring to success in the FA Women’s Cup, Everton will now be relieved to add a single point to their tally after a precarious performance.
“We expected to put on a much better show than we did,” admitted Everton head coach Andy Spence. “We created some good opportunities but I can’t honestly say we deserved to win. A draw is a fair result.
“Our performances haven’t been brilliant. We’ve shown a lot of heart and desire but we need more sustained spells of quality. There have been splashes of it, but we’re capable of a lot more than we’re showing at the present time. We need to sustain those periods of quality for longer in the game and put the opposition under more pressure.
“The key thing is we’re showing that we’re never out of games, but we were that much on top after ten minutes, that we shouldn’t have been in the position where we needed to scrap.
“We’ve got to focus on the quality of our work and getting the basics right and then not being so lacklustre in terms of our defending.
“We’ve got to get back to what we feel are our strengths as a team.”
