Rachel Furness secured our first victory in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League (WSL) as we defeated Liverpool 1-0 on our home debut at The Hive on Sunday afternoon.
Furness scored a penalty just before half-time to secure three points in our second game in the WSL. Liverpool were down to 10 players in the second half after Niamh Fahey was shown a red card for fouling Rosella Ayane while she was running through on goal.
Head Coaches Karen Hills and Juan Amoros made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 on the opening day at Chelsea with Anna Filbey, Chloe Peplow and Ayane in the starting line-up against the Reds. Peplow and Ayane made their full competitive debuts for Spurs and Ria Percival captained the side for the first time with Club captain Jenna Schillaci named on the substitutes' bench.
Ashleigh Neville had a lively display at right-back and her drilled ball into the box in the opening six minutes was deflected behind for a corner, before Ayane fired just wide from the resulting set piece. Furness tested Anke Preuss from distance twice in the first half, forcing a flying save from the Liverpool keeper on one occasion, with her other attempt flashing wide.
Moments before the interval, Becky Jane bundled Furness down in the penalty area, before the Northern Ireland international stepped up to slot the spot-kick calmly into the bottom right corner and write her name into the history books as our first ever goalscorer in the WSL.
After the break, Preuss was called into action for the visitors to stop a fierce strike from Gemma Davison, before Peplow fired wide from the resulting corner-kick.
Four minutes later, Vicky Jepson’s side were down to 10 players when the referee showed Fahey a red card as she bundled down Ayane, who was running through on goal. We continued to control the game thereafter to put our first top-flight points on the board in the scorching sunshine.
Head Coach Karen Hills reflected: "It was a massive result. It's our opening game here at the Hive and to get the three points against a well-established side is fantastic. I thought we thoroughly deserved it today."
On goalscorer Furness, Karen added: "I'm extremely impressed with her on and off the pitch. Her experience around the girls, she's a leader, she's one of those players who will just pull everyone together and her football just speaks for itself. Today she was outstanding and took her penalty really well."
