Bristol City head coach Lauren Smith praised the resilience of her squad as they showed they could cope in pressure situations by beating Championship leaders London City Lionesses 3-1 to move level on points with them at the top of the standings.
City made up for the disappointment of their frustrating stalemate at Blackburn Rovers on the weekend with a committed display that may not have showcased the Robins at their fluid best, but it didn’t need to be, while Fran Bentley was also excellent in goal.
Shania Hayles opened the scoring for the hosts only for Lily Agg to level before half-time. But a quick-fire double courtesy of Grace Clinton and Ffion Morgan in the second half ensured the hosts drew level on 27 points with the leaders, with City having a game in hand.
“It means a lot to the group and the staff as well,” Smith said. “It’s been one we’ve been waiting to play for so long and the tension before it was there, but I knew this group could pull that pout; whether that was nice, ugly, gritty, resilient - and it did look like that - I had full faith we’d come out with a good performance a good win.
“They pulled together. We’ve gone from a game where we had all the possession from the weekend to a game where in that first half we had very little of it but still managed to worm our way into the game and make it hard for the opposition.
“It’s time to party now for 5-10 minutes but we have to turn our focus to Lewes on the weekend because, yes, this was a top-of-the-table clash but, as we;ve seen, anybody can take points off anybody, and that’s the story of this league. So we have to refocus, put this behind us, just like any game, and really put everything into Lewes now.”
The visitors started strongly and on the half-hour mark Fran Bentley was forced into action to keep out Sarah Ewens, and the resulting corner needed heading off the line by Naomi Layzell.
Eight minutes later, Aimee Palmer played a lovely diagonal ball in behind which Hayles controlled expertly before cutting inside and firing into the bottom corner to break the deadlock.
But two minutes before the break the visitors were level, Shanade Hopcroft’s free-kick met perfectly by Agg to head in the equaliser.
Bentley was busy again after half-time, keeping out a low drive from substitute Karin Muya. This would prove crucial as, just before the hour mark, Clinton nodded home a rebound from a corner, as London City failed to properly clear their lines, to re-establish the lead.
Just three minutes later, Lauren Smith’s side had a two-goal cushion after Morgan turned home Abi Harrison’s tantalising delivery.
The sides traded blows with 15 to go, as Rachel Furness and Hopcroft both came close before Bentley saved well from Hopcroft to secure the points.
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