Kayleigh Hines strikes to give women victory at Yeovil
Kayleigh Hines' third-minute strike was the difference as United held on through 23 minutes of stoppage time to claim a 1-0 win at third-placed Yeovil Town in FA Women's Super League 2.
With Destiney Toussaint and Laura Nichol both out with ankle injuries sustained in training this week, United made two changes to the side which beat Millwall Lionesses three weeks ago. Madison Lee and Ella Franklin-Fraiture both came into the side, with Isi Meade dropping out.
The U's came tearing out of the blocks and the match was still in its infancy when they took the lead. There were only two minutes played when Kayleigh Hines hit one of her trademark long-distance shots from the left-hand edge of the area, looping beyond the despairing grasp of Yeovil goalkeeper Charlotte Haynes.
It was all one way in the early stages, but the hosts soon began to assert themselves and create chances of their own. Corinne Yorston burst through on the left wing before playing a deadly ball across the face of goal to Ellis Hillman, who somehow blazed over from inside the six-yard box. And United had the quick reactions of Demi Lambourne to thank for preventing Sarah Wiltshire from scoring when she found herself the wrong side courtesy of a visionary crossfield pass which bypassed the United defence entirely. Fortunately, Lambourne was alert to the danger, racing off her line to close the angle and make the save.
United remained dangerous when they went forward, with Allison causing plenty of problems. She was denied at close range by the Yeovil keeper after an excellent exchange with Holly Pikcett put her through one-on-one shortly before the break.
Helen Bleazard was just a lick of paint away from levelling the scores within moments of the restart, seeing her shot find its way past a forest of legs in the area but not past the inside of the post.
Following a lengthy stoppage while Yeovil's Natalie Haigh received treatment after a collision with Hines, the home side pressed forward in a desperate attempt to level the match and keep their promotion ambitions alive. There were several scrambles in the United area as the hosts launched balls into the box. United defended stoutly in numbers and restricted Yeovil's opportunities to just a handful of half-chances to see the game out excellently and claim a third successive league victory.
United: Lambourne, Osborne-Ricketts, Lee, Lane, Bruce, Franklin-Fraiture, Nutman, Hines, Stanley, Pickett (Pinker 88), Allison (Barrett 90+22). Subs not used: Cox, Noble