Brighton escape with the points in WSL

A first half strike from Fran Kirby proved to be the difference as Brighton & Hove Albion ran out 1-0 winners in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.

After quite an even contest in the opening half an hour at Brisbane Road, a composed finish from Kirby just three minutes before the break gave the visitors the lead in what could be argued as a controversial goal as Ella Morris was down with a head injury inside the box in the build-up.

The second half yielded very few opportunities for both sides as we pushed for an equaliser, however Brighton, who were searching for their first win in the WSL since the turn of the year, held on to condemn us to our fifth defeat in a row in all competitions.

Amanda Nildén was one of two changes to our starting XI that faced Manchester City last time out, replacing Charlotte Grant, and she was at the heart of our strong start to the proceedings. The full-back, who was a constant threat down the left-hand side, picked out Matilda Vinberg inside the box who then teed up Martha Thomas just behind the penalty spot, although our number 17 scuffed her first-time effort wide before Olivia Holdt, who was making her first start in the WSL, failed to keep her shot down from distance as it sailed over the bar.

Having limited the visitors to very few opportunities inside the opening half hour, Brighton started to grow into the encounter, Kirby sending a shot off target after a slip from Drew Spence gave the midfielder acres of space outside the 18-yard box before Kop produced an outstanding save to push Marisa Olislagers long-range strike around the post. However, with three minutes remaining on the clock in the half, Brighton opened the scoring as Rachel McLauchlan, on the right byline of the box, played it back Kirby and she calmly slotted into the far corner, although there were some frustrations from our side as Ella Morris was down with a head injury in the build-up to the goal.

As we looked for a response after the restart, it was Brighton who looked more likely to extend their one-goal lead, Parris firing low into the side-netting after her initial header from Maisie Symonds’ corner was blocked. Then, just one minute later, Nadine Noordam failed to keep her effort down from the edge of the box.

We made two changes just before the hour mark as Jess Naz and Lenna Gunning-Williams entered the pitch, replacing Nilden and Holdt, and the former nearly made an instant impact, trying to get on the end of Morris’ low ball across the face of the goal, but McLauchlan was able to get there first to clear the danger. Kop was called into action to maintain the deficit at one, denying headers from Parris and Maddison Haley.

Our best opportunity of the second period came in the first minute of stoppage time when substitute Hayley Raso teed up Morris on the edge of the box and, as she raced onto the ball, the defender sent her first-time effort just narrowly over the bar as it wasn’t to be for us on the day, with Brighton picking up their first win against us since October, 2021.

In terms of personal milestones, Molly Bartrip reached a century of appearances for the Club, becoming the fourth player in the current squad to do so, as she captained the side in Bethany England's absence, who missed the clash with Brighton because of a quad issue.

Match data

Goal: Brighton – Kirby 42.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Summanen 53, Raso 79; Brighton – Thorisdottir 45+5, Noordam 69, Parris 83, Agyemang 85.

Referee: Ryan Atkin.

Venue: Brisbane Road.

Weather: Sunny with a cold breeze, seven degrees.

Attendance: 1,425.