Everton Ladies got life in FA Women’s Super League 2 off to a winning with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa – but manager Andy Spence has warned his side that improvements are needed.
Elisha N’Dow’s unfortunate own goal gave Everton the lead at Aston Villa after quarter of an hour, before Danielle Turner doubled their advantage on the hour mark.
Aston Villa 1-2 Everton
The FA WSL 2
Sutton Coldfield Central Stadium
Thursday 18 March 2015
Abi Cottam came off the bench to score on her Aston Villa Ladies debut with five minutes left, but it was mere consolation as Everton got back off to the perfect start after last season’s relegation from FA WSL 1.
Despite the result being ideal for the visitors, Spence admits more will be needed over the coming months.
“In terms of performance, it wasn’t the perfect start by any means,” he said. “The result... we’re always pleased to pick up three points. That was the aim coming into the game.
“But I think we’ve got to look at the level of the performance, because we know we need to improve a lot both with and without the ball.
“But it was always going to be that type of game. Villa are a good side, a real competitive side, so we knew they’d put us under a lot of pressure, and credit to them, they were the better team in the first half for sure.
Everton left-back Paige Williams tackles Villa's Maddie Cusack
“We’ve gone in 1-0 ahead, probably fortunate really, but a little bit from us in the first half, but there’s still a lot more to come.”
Aston Villa manager Ronald Mellor was left to curse individual mistakes as his side were unable to secure victory in front of their home fans.
“We gave away two silly goals,” Mellor said. “We were too deep for the first goal, then it ricocheted and bounced into the goal.
“The second goal, a poor clearance, that they did well to pounce with and score a good goal. We scored a good goal towards the end, but clearly a little bit too late to make a difference.
“I think we matched them overall, and to say they were FA WSL 1 last year, we’ve done very well to match them. But sadly, we were not quite good enough.
“A lot of our side are 18, 19, or 20. There are some young internationals in the England squad.
"We recruit from our school of excellence, and we’ll continue to do that. But they’re a young side, a vibrant side, a fit side, and they’re learning all the time.”
