Aston Villa came from behind to record their first home win of the season on Sunday – condemning London Bees to five straight defeats in the process.
The Midlands side began brightest, creating a succession of chances that were either just wide of the mark or saved well from the visitor’s keeper Imogen Riches.
On 23 minutes the London club capitalised on their opponent’s failure to find the net, when, against the run of play, Amber Gaylor slotted home a Gemma Fraser cross from six yards out to put the visitors into the lead.
As half-time approached, Villa continued to press with chances for Katie Wilkinson and Maddy Cusack, before the in-form Olivia Fergusson unleashed a shot which cannoned off the crossbar.
The woodwork then thwarted Fergusson again shortly after the re-start as she saw her header from close-range rebound off the post. However the disappointment was short-lived as another header a minute later – this time from Wilkinson – did manage to find the back of the net pulling the hosts level.
The next 30 minutes followed a similar pattern to the opening 20, as the Lady Villains piled on the pressure. And their efforts finally paid off on 78 minutes when top-scorer Fergusson managed to fire a through-ball from Chloe Harper past Riches into the bottom corner.
Villa’s second consecutive win sees them jump to fifth place on goal difference but level on points with fourth placed Everton.
London Bees remain winless and rooted to the bottom of the table, and midfielder Ashleigh Goddard spoke of her disappointment after the game that her side had let their lead slip.
She said: “Our performances have been better than our results so far and we were optimistic coming into the game.
“We weren’t looking to sit back on our lead at half time. We were told to be positive and look for that second goal. Our coach told us we needed our game management to be spot on and that wasn’t the case.
“Too often this season we have been solid in the first half and fallen away after the break and it’s happened again today.
“To be honest I’m very disappointed because I feel we have given away two poor goals and virtually handed Villa the victory.”
