1-0 v Bristol City - 24 March 2024 - Away

Bethany England registered her first goal in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season as we ran out 1-0 winners over Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon.

We opened the scoring inside the two-minute mark for a second consecutive weekend as our captain latched onto a lovely pass from Grace Clinton and fired a low effort past Fran Bentley to net her 70th goal in the WSL, becoming only the second player in the league’s history to reach that mark.

Shuang Wang and Matilda Vinberg both struck the woodwork in the second half as we looked to further extend our advantage, while Drew Spence saw a powerful effort tipped over the bar by Fran Bentley, but we failed to convert a handful of opportunities and left the door open for the hosts to find an equaliser in the closing stages.

However, despite some late pressure from the Robins, where they struggled to test Becky Spencer, we held out to secure the three points in the South West and record back-to-back clean sheets in the WSL for the first time this campaign.

Robert Vilahamn made one change to his starting XI that faced Leicester City with England coming in for Vinberg and she made an instant impact as, with two minutes on the clock, she opened her account in the league this season.

Clinton played a lovely ball behind the Robins backline and into the path of our number nine as she advanced into the box and showed composure to work the ball on to her left foot before sending a low-driven shot past Bentley.

We looked to build on the fast start as Clinton curled an effort wide from the edge of the box but, at the other end, Spencer was called into action, although it was a routine stop for our number 22 to collect Abi Harrison’s scuffed shot.

Celin Bizet could only find the side-netting at the back post after a delightful cross from England before the pair linked-up once again just a few minutes later, this time the Norway international sending her left-footed effort over the bar, while Jessica Naz and Eveliina Summanen both found the side-netting in the closing stages of the half.

And the chances kept flowing in the second half as Spence latched on to Naz’s cross from the right but couldn’t direct the ball on target before the midfielder unleashed a powerful strike from distance and forced Bentley to push it around the post.

Sarah Stratigakis found some space on the edge of the box as Spencer got down low to her right to deny the midfielder, while Luana Bühler was in the right place at the right time to block Harrison’s shot as the Robins enjoyed a bright spark after the hour mark.

Bentley produced a fantastic save in the 75th minute to get fingertips on Spence’s effort and push it over the bar and, from the resulting corner, we struck the woodwork as Wang flicked on Summanen’s corner and her header bounced off the inside of the far post.

As we entered the final 10 minutes of the game, the Robins continued to push for an equaliser as Lisa Evans raced behind our backline and drilled low into the side-netting but, in injury time, Vinberg was inches away of adding a second as her curling effort went narrowly wide.

The Sweden international then struck the post in what was the last kick of the game as we recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins in the WSL and have closed the gap on the top five in the table following other results this weekend, sitting three points behind Manchester United.