YEOVIL TOWN WOMEN 1

CRAWLEY WASPS 2

YEOVIL Town Women suffered their first FA Women's National League South loss of the season with a 2-1 reverse at home to early pacesetters Crawley Wasps.

Manager Jamie Phillip brought in Katie Jones, Charlotte Buxton and Laura Williams for their first starts of the season but it was Crawley who began the brighter at the Clayson Stadium, with Maria Ledezma-Viso providing a test to the Yeovil defence.

With possession even across the opening period Yeovil’s best opportunities came from quick counter attacks and combinations out wide between Sarah Wiltshire and Laura Williams, although they failed to create any real chances.

A corner to Crawley almost caught out Yeovil keeper Beth Howard but Jodie Chubb cleared the ball to safety. This seemed to spark Yeovil into life with sharper play and should have found the net.

A dangerous free-kick found a Yeovil head only for Frankie Gibbs in the Crawley goal to push the ball away to safety before Gibbs was called upon again after clever link-up play saw a cross almost turned into the Crawley net by a visiting defender.

As half-time approached, possession continued to change hands and Yeovil conceded their first competitive goal of the campaign when they failed to clear their lines and Crawley’s Rebecca Carter put a simple close-range strike beyond Howard and her defence.

After half-time, Phillip’s charges rallied at the start of the second half as they provided a lot more hustle, much to the delight of the home crowd.

An equaliser almost came within five minutes of the restart as Annie Heatherson could not quite get enough purchase on the ball to defeat Gibbs.

Sarah Wiltshire soon started to find her range but neither tested Gibbs or failed to find the target.

The equaliser came from Heatherson’s hustle in midfield to rob Crawley of the ball before finding Wiltshire with time and space to curl the ball past Gibbs.

The following 10 minutes saw a disjointed game and Yeovil left space at the back as they pushed forward.

And late on, a foul on the edge of the box gave Crawley a dangerous free-kick, allowing Wasps’ captain, Naomi Cole, to curl a delightful shot over the Yeovil wall and past Howard.

With final failed opportunities from good sharp build-up play Yeovil could not find an equaliser and next visit Plymouth Argyle on Sunday (2pm).

Yeovil: Howard, Gauvain, Chubb, Jones, Wiltshire, Taylor (Aldridge 46), Heatherson, Williams, Carlton, Buxton (Dudley-Jones 70), Bloomfield. Subs not used: Pearce, Halford, Wood

Attendance: 242