BCLFC 0 Liverpool Ladies 1
And it was a suitably comical goal which decided the game after just five minutes.
An innocuous-looking cross from the left bobbled under Blues keeper Sue Wood’s grasp and hit Maz Gauntlett’s heel to fall perfectly for the loitering Vicky Jones, who could not miss from two yards.
Apart from a sliced effort from an off-balance Becky Hall for Blues and a right-footed free-kick from Liverpool’s Cheryl Foster that went too close for comfort there was a notable lack of action in the first half.
Eight minutes after the restart, Hall emphatically stated her England under-20 claims with a breathtaking dribble that took her from the halfway line into the area, leaving half a dozen Liverpool players in her wake only for keeper Nicky Davies to come off her line and block Hall’s shot.
Within seconds Hall again came close to levelling, flashing a shot narrowly wide from fully 30 yards.
Liverpool almost wrapped it up in the 61st minute when Sophie Jones latched onto a half-cleared ball to send a tremendous half volley crashing into the underside of the bar with Wood a spectator.
Heather Scheuber shrugged off a challenge on the edge of the area ten minutes later and sent a right-footed effort inches wide of the left-hand post, but anything other than victory would have been harsh on Liverpool, whose players exuberantly celebrated their first league win of the season.
Teams, BCLFC: Sue Wood; Faye Cardin, Jenni Foster, Kerys Harrop, Sian Larkin; Becky Hall, Sally Stanton, Heather Scheuber, Maz Gauntlett (Katy Ward, 86min); Amy McCann (Clare Almond, 71), Keeley Lowe (Michelle Hickmott, 56). Subs not used: Chloe Foster, Kate Moran.
Booked: Maz Gauntlett, foul, 82.
Liverpool: Nicky Davies; Samantha Chappell, Natalie Holt, Caroline Charlton (Gayle Formston, 88), Jo Traynor, Sophie Jones, Vicky Jones, Linda Mathisen (Jo Edwards, 84) Cheryl Foster, Georgina Donnelly (Alison Hastie, 84), Kelly Jones.
