Spurs Ladies blunt the Blades

Sarah Wiltshire fired Spurs Ladies to a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Sheffield United to start the year off on a high and keep the pressure on at the top of the FA Women’s Championship, writes Rosie Bonass.

An early goal from Rianna Dean gave Spurs the edge but only for a matter of 60 seconds as the Blades equalised through an unfortunate own goal from Jenna Schillaci.

Wiltshire came up with the winning goal in the second half as Spurs moved up to second place in the league and capitalised on points dropped by fellow title contenders Charlton Athletic and Durham Women, who earlier drew 2-2.

Spurs made five changes to the team who played last against Chelsea as Chloe Morgan, Lucia Leon, Angela Addison, Dean and Wiltshire started in the first game of 2019.

Dean got us off to a perfect start with her opener coming after five minutes. A thumping effort from Wiltshire was stopped by the crossbar with Dean perfectly placed in the 18-yard box to covert the rebound - her 12th goal of the season.

The home side responded immediately at the other end of the pitch, as Spurs failed to deal with a cross into the box from Veatriki Sarri and Schilliaci turned the ball into the back of her own net.

The Lilywhites went ahead once again within six minutes of the start of the second half, following a moment of quality from Wiltshire. The goal came after Coral-Jade Haines’ cross found the forward who improvised brilliantly by heading the ball up and smashing it on the volley into the back of the net for 2-1.

Morgan came to the rescue in a nervy few moments following Wiltshire’s goal, as she pulled off two important saves to prevent Sarri from scoring an equaliser for Sheffield, and thankfully Spurs held out for maximum points at Olympic Legacy Park.

Match reaction

“The fact that we were able to get the three points matters even more as it was a match where every single player had to compete at the top of their game and I think everyone did just that,” said head coach Juan Amoros.

“The second goal was key for us, and from Chloe (Morgan) to Rianna (Dean) everyone was outstanding in defending our lead. Now it’s a question of us just focusing and playing our games and trying to win them. We knew that the three points would be massive and we’re happy we got them.”

Match-winner Sarah Wiltshire added: “I just always want to help the team out in any way I can with scoring or assisting so I’m really happy with my goal. I thought we were brilliant, defensively we just kept going even when Sheffield were pressing on, and I thought we did really well to get the three points.”

Match data

FA Women's Championship.

Goals: Sheffield United Women - Jenna Schillaci (OG) 6; Spurs Ladies – Rianna Dean 5, Sarah Wiltshire 51.

Referee: Emily Carney.

Venue: Olympic Legacy Park.