YEOVIL LADIES 1

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 4

YEOVIL Town Ladies signed off for the winter break with 4-1 defeat against Brighton in the Continental Cup, but with a much better performance and a much-changed starting line-up.

Charlotte Buxton, Erin Bloomfield, Shannon Albuery and Monique Fischer were all given valuable minutes with Lee Burch calling for a response after a poor performance in the 5-0 defeat against West Ham on Sunday.

The match started evenly with Albuery and Bloomfield linking up well up front.

Buxton, who Burch described as performing ‘excellently’, played a superb through ball to Albuery but Sophie Harris did well to claim.

The deadlock was then broken after 15 minutes when Ellie Brazil acrobatically gave Albion the lead, as her finish sailed past Walsh into the top corner.

But Yeovil continued to look dangerous and were rewarded on 37 minutes, thanks to a fine individual goal from Emily Syme for her second of the season.

Syme ran past the defence and fired home from the edge of the area. It was all the home side deserved but just before the whistle blew for half-time, Brighton had the lead again.

Ellie Mason fouled Imi Umotong in the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Danielle Buet fired home the penalty and straight away the whistle was blown.

The home side started the second half well and almost got their second equaliser when Hannah Short’s excellent free-kick looked to be flicked into the net but it was somehow blocked and Harris eventually claimed.

Yeovil then had a mountain to climb on 53 minutes, when former Glover Kayleigh Green latched onto a loose ball in the box and fired home the Seagulls’ third of the match.

As the match went on, the home side looked likely to score next with Olivia Fergusson making an impact from the bench. Fergusson found herself in space on a number of occasions but couldn’t quite finish in the final third.

A Megan Alexander corner almost found its way into the net but Brighton somehow cleared multiple efforts off the line to preserve their two-goal cushion.

It just wouldn’t go in the back of the net for Yeovil and their missed chances proved costly as the visitors added a fourth with seven minutes to play.

Bethan Roe scored with her first touch and condemned the Glovers to defeat.

Brighton are now through to the quarter-finals of the Continental Cup, while Yeovil will focus solely on their league campaign.

The Glovers now have until Sunday, January 13 to prepare for the visit of Liverpool Women to the Clayson Stadium, with Burch working hard over the Christmas break to ensure the ladies are ready for the second half of their first ever professional season.