Sunderland ladies moved up to second in the WSL1 table after coming from behind to beat Bristol Academy.
Rachel Furness scored the winner for the Black Cats in a result that saw them leapfrog Arsenal and Manchester City who play each other on Sunday.
Angharad James had put the visitors ahead but the Vixens couldn’t hold on to their lead and suffered their sixth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
The hosts threatened early when Brooke Chaplen’s long ball released Beth Mead in the opening exchanges, but Bristol keeper Mary Earps was on hand to sweep up the danger. Keira Ramshaw then saw her effort blocked minutes later.
But despite their pressure, Sunderland found themselves behind after gifting their opponents their first real chance of the afternoon.
Furness lost the ball inside her own half and Bristol capitalised on the break, with James curling a strike from 22-yards out in to the bottom corner.
Sunderland looked to level things up quickly and could have been ahead after Bristol cleared Victoria Williams’ goal-bound header off the line from a corner, and Furness headed just wide from a second set-piece.
Just before the break, Ramshaw found herself in space on the right and whipped in an excellent cross for Beth Mead who was only denied by the woodwork.
After a promising end to the first half it took just 24 seconds for the hosts to equalise after play had resumed, Mead showing strength to hold off defenders and drive towards the by-line before cutting back for Chaplen to fire home.
The rest of the half saw Sunderland dominate, with keeper Rachael Laws only real test coming from a mishit clearance from teammate Ramshaw who was thankful to see her slice tipped over the bar.
But with 20 minutes left to play, the hosts found a winner courtesy of a powerful Furness header after Jasmine Matthews fouled Mead in a promising position and the 26-year-old rose highest to meet substitute Vicky Greenwell’s free kick.
After gifting Bristol their first goal from open play this season earlier in the match, Sunderland were nearly guilty of the same mistake again.
With just minutes remaining on the clock Steph Bannon slipped in possession and the visitors poured forward.
Substitute Gabby Bird looked certain of leveling the game as she found herself through on goal, but Hayley Sharp recovered impressively and produced a perfectly-timed interception at the death to ensure the Black Cats of all three points.
Bristol are now firmly rooted at the bottom of the WSL 1 table after conceding 8 goals in their first 3 games.
Goalscorer James said after the match: “We’re still positive. We know that good things will happen.
“It will take time, we’ve got a completely different team this year, a completely different squad and we are playing a completely different way.
“In the first half we competed, but in the second half we went missing. I don’t know what happened. We just dropped the intensity and it wasn’t a good half from myself and the team.”
