Watford managed to secure their first win of their WSL 2 campaign on Sunday, beating Aston Villa by a single goal.
A second half strike from Ellie Mason sealed a narrow victory for the Hornets, despite the hosts controlling most of the play.
The Villains headed into the game on the back of a two-week break, and were handed a number of opportunities to break the deadlock early in the first half.
Alicia Robinson, back in the side after injury, saw her 25 yard effort saved by Shayla Burgess early on, before her corners regularly left the Hornets’ defence scurrying to make rushed clearances.
The visitors then did well to ensure Katie Wilkinson was kept off the scoresheet, after Burgess collected her fierce volley from the edge of the box. The striker went close again with an effort created from Villa goalkeeper Jess Myers, but she could only knock her shot wide of the post, keeping Watford in the game.
The Hornets then edged into the match slowly by surely, and began to threaten the claret and blues shortly before the break. Stacie Donnelly’s through-ball was almost met by Kate Natkiel, before Mason enjoyed numerous chances, which could have ended in the back of the net on multiple occasions.
The second-half started in a timid nature, but with twenty minutes remaining on the clock, the teams pushed harder, leaving more space for both sides on the break.
Mason was able to net the first and only goal of the afternoon after 75 minutes, beating Myers with a well-taken volley from 16 yards, and despite the best attempts of Villa late on, an equaliser could not be created.
The victory saw Watford climb off the bottom of the table with 4 points from 6 games. Speaking after the match, manager John Salomon said: “I’m really pleased to get that first win of the season, it was a tough game.
“Only a few weeks ago we were standing here having lost 4-1 to Villa, so to have turned that around and win 1-0 today shows how far these players have come in a short space of time.”
He added: “We’re under no illusions. One win doesn’t mean we’re going to carry on this run now, we’ve got to get our heads down and work hard again this week in preparation for the Millwall game. “Our other point this season came against them so it’s another opportunity for us to go and show we’ve progressed and moved on since that point.
“We now have to focus on giving this level of performance again if not more and trying the best we can to get the three points against Millwall. Things will then look very different on that league table.”
