Defeat at Southampton leaves Lewes with two games to escape relegation

Grace Riglar’s strike shortly before half-time had got Lewes back in it after Emma Thompson’s double strike but they could not find an equaliser and stay two points off safety.

Southampton started quickly, with Thompson putting them in front on 11 minutes. It came after some nice build-up work from Lucia Kendall and Ella Morris, the latter teeing up Thompson to open the scoring.

She was at it again four minutes later, Thompson fastest to react after a corner was not dealt with by the visitors.

Lewes responded well to those quick strikes and got back into it five minutes before the break when Riglar finished Hollie Olding’s cross.

Kendall hit the bar for Saints early in the second half before Hannah Godfrey did well to clear the ball off the line for Lewes.

From there, Lewes grew into the game as they pushed for an equaliser, with Riglar at the heart of everything they did well.

When nine minutes of added time were announced, they appeared energised, with Olding putting on pressure from set-piece.

They could not find a way through though as Southampton held out to stay third in the table.

Lewes, meanwhile, are still 11th with two matches remaining, sitting two points behind Reading.

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