A wonder goal from Bethany England eased Tottenham’s relegation fears with a vital 1-0 win over bottom club Leicester in the Women’s Super League.
Victory for Spurs halted their run of nine consecutive league defeats, a sequence of results that saw Rehanne Skinner sacked on Monday.
Vicky Jepson was asked to step up from her role as assistant to lead the group and masterminded a first WSL win since October thanks to England’s superb 65th-minute strike into the top corner.
Only two points separated the teams before kick-off and the importance of the fixture produced a cagey opening 45 minutes where Tottenham goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela required treatment but was fine to continue.
Spurs interim boss Jepson was thankful Korpela remained on the pitch when she saved from Hannah Cain in the 63rd minute before the resulting corner saw Ruby Mace and Sam Tierney both go close.
Those squandered opportunities would come back to haunt Willie Kirk’s basement side at Brisbane Road.
England received possession on the left, cut inside and rifled a swerving, dipping effort into top corner and past in-form Bayern Munich loanee Janina Leitzig.
England’s fifth goal for Tottenham since a high-profile January move from Chelsea proved priceless with the hosts holding on to taste the winning feeling again to move up to ninth in the table and five points clear of Leicester, who occupy the solitary relegation position in the division.
