Lewes Women beat London City Lionesses secure back-to-back wins

Ellie Leek’s confident first-half penalty was the only goal as Lewes won 1-0 at London City Lionesses to secure back-to-back FA Women’s Championship wins.
Lewes Women after the game. Picture courtesy of Lewes FCLewes Women after the game. Picture courtesy of Lewes FC
Lewes Women after the game. Picture courtesy of Lewes FC

The visitors deserved their lead at the break, but only secured the three points by resilient defending as the hosts spent most of the second half in the Lewes box.

A cagey first half saw both sides make efforts that were comfortably dealt with, with Freda Ayisi’s long-range shot was the first real strike on goal for the hosts.

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Georgia Timms also had a decent effort in the 27th minute, forcing a good parry from the Lionesses’ American goalkeeper Shae Yanez.

Five minutes later, Lewes were awarded a penalty and Leek stepped up and slotted the ball to her right, past Yanez to give the Rooks the lead.

The hosts could have levelled before the break but Ayisi’s 43rd-minute shot was just wide.

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After the restart, Lewes were dominating play in a bid to extend their lead, with first Katie Rood’s header and then Timms’ fierce strike both going just over the bar.

In the 54th minute, Poppy Wilson’s attempt for the Lionesses forced a good smother save from Tatiana Saunders in the Lewes goal.

On 70 minutes, Ayisi made another attempt to draw the scores level but her shot was just over as the Lionesses kept piling the pressure on, only for Lewes’ defence to remain steadfast.

With just minutes to go, substitute Emma Jones put the ball into the side netting for Lewes.

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At the other end, Alli Murphy’s free kick for the Lionesses was comfortably saved and Lewes held on for their second 1-0 win in a row.

To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com Ylenia Priest, Lionesses co-captain, said: “We’re obviously disappointed. The girls gave it their all. It was one of those days that didn’t go our way.

“I’m speechless how we didn’t score but we’ll have to watch it back. There’s a lot of positives to take into Tottenham. At the moment, disappointed, but I think we can build.

“We’re very close, just small margins that just have not gone our way. We’re working very hard in training. Fair play to Lewes, they put bodies on the line and closed us down quickly.

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“It was either the wrong pass or the wrong delivery or just not hitting the target. It was small things and on another day we would have got three or four.

“Tottenham is going to be a big challenge, but those are the games to get excited about. We’re looking forward to that and hopefully we’ll put a good performance in.”

Lewes match-winner Ellie Leek said: “It feels great. We all fought together again. We have such resilience as a team. It feels great to get another three points in this league.

“They don’t come easy. We really appreciate it. It was an aggressive game. London City are a great team with great players and they didn’t make it easy for us.

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“It shows how organised we are, the resilience and team chemistry that we have to get the win today. A few people on the team could have taken that penalty today.

“We’ve taken a few in training because they’ve been coming thick and fast in this league. We have to be ready. I don’t really think about it when I take a penalty.

“I know what I’m going to do and try and mix it up in training so I know where to place it. We have such a big squad this year and the quality never drops.

“We have the depth to go out again and get another win against Crystal Palace. They’re a great team too, I don’t think their results have reflected the quality that they have.”

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London City Lionesses (3-4-3): Shae Yanez; Harley Bennett, Ylenia Priest, Grace Neville; Alli Murphy, Hayley Nolan, Freda Ayisi, Poppy Wilson; Kallie Balfour, Juliette Kemppi, Liz Ejupi

Substitutes: Lily Agg for Balfour 46, Atlanta Primus for Ejupi 74, Annie Rossiter for Wilson 81

Substitutes not used: Chantelle Mackie, Lucy Thomas, Lilly Pursey

Bookings: Rossiter 90

Lewes (3-4-3): Tatiana Saunders; Samantha Quayle, Rhian Cleverley, Nicola Cousins; Sophie O’Rourke, Danielle Lane, Filippa Savva, Ellie Leek; Emily Donovan, Georgia Timms, Katie Rood

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Substitutes: Ellie Noble for Savva 66, Emma Jones for Timms 73, Megan Mackey for Donovan 90, Ellie Hack for Leek 90

Substitutes not used: Laura Hartley, Charley Boswell, Ellie Newman, Hannah Griffin, Simran Jhamat

Goals: Leek 32 (pen)

Referee: Jamie Pope