John Salomon admits Watford have plenty to work on ahead of their first FA WSL match of the season after they narrowly beat Keynsham Town 2-1 to reach the Fifth Round of The FA Women’s Cup.
Left-back Holly Wride scored a surprise first-half double to keep the Golden Girls in the hat, despite Justine Lorton-Radburn’s strike just before half-time making it a nervy second period.
And while boss Salomon reserved praise for Wride, he urged caution heading into Watford’s opening WSL 2 match away to Oxford United on Thursday 19 March.
Fourth Round results
Watford 2-1 Keynsham Town
Aston Villa 2-1 (aet) Yeovil Town
Portsmouth 1-4 Millwall Lionesses
Bradford City 1-2 Doncaster Rovers Belles
Sheffield FC 4-0 Radcliffe Olympic
Derby County 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Charlton Athletic AFC 3-3 Crystal Palace (Charlton won 4-2 on pens, AET)
Stoke City 1-3 Coventry City
He said: “We were far from our best but we did what we needed to get through.
“It’s nice to be in the next round, but we know we need to make improvements before the season starts in a couple of weeks.
“But full credit to Holly, she played really well, and to get two goals from left-back says a lot about her and how hard she works.”
Elsewhere, in the all-WSL 2 encounter at Sutton Coldfield, Aston Villa emerged victorious against Yeovil Town courtesy of a stunning Katie Wilkinson free-kick in extra time.
Olivia Fergusson had given the hosts a 36th-minute lead but the Glovers responded when Corinne Yorston's corner was headed home by Natalie Haigh with just four minutes of normal time remaining.
However, the final say went to Wilkinson who struck home a set-piece in the 114th minute to seal a 2-1 victory for Villa.
Meanwhile, Millwall Lionesses made light work of Portsmouth with a sensational hat-trick from Lillie Billson doing the damage in a 4-1 rout.
The Lionesses took the lead with their first chance of the match on 14 minutes, Rinsola Babajide springing the offside trap before setting up Billson to curl a shot beyond keeper Sadie Blakely.
Billson then added her second on 22 minutes before Portsmouth reduced the deficit six minutes before the break. Gemma-Louise Hiller collected the ball in midfield and made herself space before firing home from 25 yards out.
However, Billson completed her hat-trick with a stunning 30-yard drive on 50 minutes and the WSL 2 side wrapped up the win in time added as full-back Frankie Strugnell found the net with a 20-yard shot.
Doncaster Rovers Belles also avoided a potential banana skin by beating Bradford City 2-1 in a tight Yorkshire derby – Courtney Sweetman-Kirk and Sue Smith on the scoresheet for the WSL 2 outfit.
FA WSL 1 sides enter the fray at the Fifth Round stage, the draw for which will take place on Monday.
