Southampton WFC edged Southampton Saints 1-0 to became new leaders of FA WPL South West Division 1, while Hull City and Loughborough Foxes also went top of their respective tables.
Sunday 7th January
FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE
NORTHERN DIVISION
West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Att: 85)
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Swindon Town 1-4 Queens Park Rangers
West Ham United 0-0 Gillingham (Att: 133)
MIDLANDS DIVISION 1
Loughborough Foxes 2-0 Burton Albion (Att: 42)
Radcliffe Olympic 1-0 Long Eaton United (Att: 30)
Rotherham United 1-1 Leicester City Ladies (Att: 30)
NORTHERN DIVISION 1
Barnsley 0-5 Hull City (Att: 57)
Chorley P-P Leeds United
Morecambe 6-2 Bolton Wanderers (Att: 32)
SOUTH EAST DIVISION 1
AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Cambridge United (Att: 70)
Enfield Town 1-1 Actonians (Att: 26)
Leyton Orient 2-1 Denham United (Att: 61)
SOUTH WEST DIVISION 1
Larkhall Athletic P-P Poole Town
Southampton WFC 1-0 Southampton Saints (Att: 62)
St Nicholas 2-1 Basingstoke Town (Att: 22)
LEAGUE PLATE 2ND ROUND
Norwich City 2-4 Milton Keynes Dons (Att: 35)
Forest cancel out late Baggies goal
West Brom went ninth in the Northern Division and Nottingham Forest seventh after drawing one apiece. Both goals came late in the game, with Cheryl Edwards giving the Baggies an 80th-minute lead but Amy Dicken equalising 4 minutes later.
Rangers beat Robins in basement battle
Swindon Town are 7 points adrift at the foot of the table, having gone down 4-1 in the Southern basement battle with QPR. Hit with illness, Swindon could only list one substitute and trailed to a Helen Ogle brace at the break. Ogle late completed her hat-trick and Kasha Petit made it 4-0 before Mia Mugford got a stoppage-time consolation for the home side.
West Ham and Gillingham both went level on points with eighth-placed Cardiff, after a goalless game at Rush Green. Chloe Burr was thwarted several times by the Gills’ keeper and Andria Georgiou went close from a free-kick, with the visitors nearest to scoring when a set-piece clipped the post.
Foxes to the fore
Loughborough Foxes beat third-placed Burton Albion 2-0 to replace TNS as Midlands leaders. Chloe Young broke the deadlock on 62 minutes and Laura Dexter came off the bench to double the advantage with 13 minutes left.
A single-goal victory for Radcliffe Olympic over Long Eaton lifted them into fifth spot on goal-difference.
Leicester City Ladies got off the mark at the twelfth attempt, drawing 1-1 away to next to bottom Rotherham United. There was a debut goal for City’s Ellise Newby but Sarah Saxon replied for the Millers in the second half, as they moved within 2 points of safety.
Hull take back top spot
Hull City went back to the top of Northern Division 1 in style, replacing Brighouse Town with a 5-0 beating of Barnsley. Three up at the midway point, the Tigresses added two more goals in the second period.
Fourth-placed Morecambe are four points ahead of Bolton Wanderers, having come from two goals down to run out 6-2 winners. Charlotte Higginson scored twice, with one each for Hannah Paling, Emily Hutton, Yasmine Swarbrick and Beth Fisher.
Dons stay 5 points clear of O’s
AFC Wimbledon’s 2-0 result over Cambridge United kept them 5 points clear in the South East. Katie Stanley took only 2 minutes to open the scoring but it was 5 minutes from the end before Jenny Banfield got the Dons’ second.
Leyton Orient stayed in touch with a narrow 2-1 defeat of Denham United. Sophie le Marchand and Rebecca Hirst got the O’s goals in an eight-minute spell after the half-hour mark.
Actonians led at the break at Enfield Town but had to settle for a point after conceding a 71st-minute own-goal. Enfield remain a point ahead of their visitors in seventh and now a single point short of Cambridge.
Nine in a row for newcomers
Southampton WFC not only made it 9 straight wins but defeated local rivals Southampton Saints to takeover from Keynsham Town at the top of South West Division 1. Both teams hit the woodwork but Emma Pinner found the net in the first half after Kirsty Bell cleared from a Saints’ free kick.
St Nicholas are 5 points ahead of Basingstoke Town after winning the basement battle with an injury-time goal. Rhian Robbins first-half effort was added to by Adele Hooper to give St Nicks back-to-back victories over Basingstoke.
Dons defeat Canaries in Plate
MK Dons stormed into a 2-0 lead after only 5 minutes at Norwich City, Heather McDonnell with a half-volley and then Sasha Newsome finishing from a Dawn Mallett set piece. City got one back by half-time but goals from Charly Wright and Amelia Hazard set Dons up for a 4-2 victory.
Meanwhile, Norwich announced Grant Palmer as their new manager and Carla Dickinson as head coach. Palmer had much success at Harlow Town Ladies, whileDickinson has over 15 years coaching experience in the UK and USA.
