There were wins for Birmingham City, Yeovil and Notts County in the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup Group Three on Sunday.
The Blues boosted their chances of reaching the last eight with a one-sided 3-0 victory against Oxford United.
Birmingham, who have struggled in front of goal in the FA Women’s Super League 1, were looking to build on their 7-1 thrashing of neighbours Aston Villa from their last cup game – and it was always a question of how many they would score against their FA Women’s Super League 2 opponents.
FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup
Birmingham Ladies 3-0 Oxford Utd Women
Notts County Ladies 1-0 Bristol Academy
Yeovil Ladies 3-1 Aston Villa Ladies
Only the spirited defiance of Oxford goalkeeper Demi Lambourne who saved multiple times from Kirsty Linnett, Freda Ayisi, Mel Lawley and Alex Windell, stood between Birmingham and a goal avalanche.
It took the Blues half an hour to break the deadlock through the speedy Melissa Lawley who netted an angled shot after latching onto a long ball forward by Aoife Mannion.
Linnett won a penalty for hand ball against Madison Lee in the 39th minute only to shoot high over the bar.
Ayisi effectively made the tie safe from ten yards in the 52nd minute and Linnett’s relief was clear for all to see when she found the target in the 68th minute.
Oxford’s effort in keeping the score down was to their credit and they finally had a shot at goal themselves through lone striker Destiny Toussaint with five minutes to go.
Notts County's Rachel Williams got the only goal of the game against Bristol Academy
In the East Midlands Rachel Williams’ first-half strike was enough for Notts County to claim all three points in their clash with a 1-0 victory against Bristol Academy.
The hosts were hoping to avenge their recent league loss to the Vixens, and got off to the perfect start after just seven minutes as Williams bundled the ball in when Bristol failed to clear Jess Clarke’s shot.
The Lady Pies front three were causing plenty of problems, with Clarke having a goal disallowed for offside and Ellen White then heading over the bar.
Williams should of added her second after being put through on goal by White, but Bristol keeper Mary Earps smothered the shot, ensuring the away side went into the break just 1-0 down.
Service was resumed after the interval as Notts County went looking for a second goal, with White pulling a shot wide of Earps’ post after being sent clear by Clarke.
Bristol were forced to play the last 20 minutes with only 10 players when their final substitute, Frankie Fantom-Brown, was carried off with what looked like a serious injury.
They almost nicked a late equaliser, Nadia Lawrence narrowly putting the ball wide after charging down Siobhan Chamberlain’s kick, but Notts County held on for a 1-0 win that maintained their 100 per cent record in the competition.
Nicola Cousins came off the bench to score for Yeovil
Yeovil Town made it two wins out of three in the Cup, thanks to second-half strikes from super-sub Nicola Cousins and Annie Heatherson.
The Lady Glovers made a promising start against Aston Villa as Heatherson headed a Helen Bleazard free-kick wide inside the opening minute.
Yeovil continued to dominate the proceedings and broke the deadlock on 17 minutes when Alys Hinchcliffe latched onto a through ball from Shauna Cossens before rounding Villa keeper Caitlin Leach and firing home.
In the 25th minute, Jodi Cornwall tested Leach with a powerful long range strike that the Villa keeper turned onto the bar before gathering at the second attempt.
The visitors equalised four minutes later though when Olivia Fergusson cut through the Yeovil defence before slotting past Yeovil keeper Charlotte Haynes.
On the stroke of half-time, Hinchcliffe raced through on goal before her eventual effort was turned behind for a corner by Leach.
Six minutes after the re-start, Fergusson threatened again for the visitors, but Yeovil keeper Haynes raced off her line to clear the danger.
In the 70th minute, substitute Sarah Wiltshire attempted to lob Leach from 35-yards, but her effort narrowly cleared the cross bar.
The Lady Glovers regained the lead on 76 minutes when Cousins headed home a corner from Bleazard and in the 90th minute Heatherson scored Yeovil’s third to add gloss to their win.
