Bristol Academy boss Willie Kirk was pleased to put his money where his mouth is after masterminding their first win of the FA WSL1 season.
The Vixens visited high-flying Notts County with just two points to their name from nine games, but Jade Boho-Sayo’s first-half header ended the wait for victory in the league.
And Kirk, who took to Twitter to make a prediction about his side’s season last week, was impressed with Bristol’s defensive shift at Meadow Lane.
Notts County Ladies 0-1 Bristol Academy
FA WSL 1
Wednesday 5 August
Meadow Lane, Nottingham
“I put my neck on the line last week when I tweeted that we wouldn’t go down,” he said.
“I did believe that and I still believe that. Nothing’s changed after this game and obviously three points goes a long way to help us, but I’ve got a lot of belief in the players because I see how hard they work every day.
“Our back line was excellent throughout, including our wing-backs, and we tried to design it in such a way that it wasn’t so tough on them.
“Everybody played their part but the defence really put their bodies on the line for us.”
Jess Clarke terrorised the Bristol defence early on and Dunia Susi almost got on the end of her cross to grab an opener for the hosts, who were beaten in The Women's FA Cup final on Saturday.
That opener, however, went to the visitors after 22 minutes when a deflected ball into the box fell to Boho-Sayo to loop a header over Carly Telford.
Susi then went close again, denied by the post after heading a corner towards goal, before Boho-Sayo rattled the crossbar from just inside the Lady Pies half.
Jade Boho-Sayo scores Bristol Academy's winner against Notts County Ladies
Laura Bassett fired over from six yards late on and the pressure intensified but Notts couldn’t find a leveller and striker Clarke is eager to move swiftly on from the setback.
“We’re disappointed with the game but were all experienced players and we’ve got that bouncebackability,” she said.
“Credit to Bristol, they played some good football and they managed to get a goal early on that didn’t help but at the same time I think we’ve got the players that can put the ball into the back of the net.
“We played some good football, it was just the final third that let us down. We had the chances and vitally you need to score to win the game and it just wasn’t happening.”
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