Yeovil Town Ladies pip Bristol City to FA Women's Super League 2 title
Sunday 6 November 2016 17:48, UK
Yeovil Town Ladies were crowned champions of the FA Women's Super League 2 after they cruised to a 3-0 win at home to Sheffield Ladies.
Lucy Quinn and Annie Heatherson found the target before Nicola Cousins struck late on, as the Glovers capped their historic promotion to the top flight with a commanding display in front of a record crowd of 1,483.
Despite knowing they needed to match Bristol City's result to be sure of the title, Yeovil were showing no signs of nerves and took a deserved lead on 15 minutes when Quinn picked up the ball just outside the box and rifled past Claire Wallhead.
Quinn nearly made it two after a sumptuous backheel from Kayleigh Green, but her shot went narrowly wide.
With Bristol City racing into a four-goal lead at Oxford by half-time, there was an uneasy feeling around Huish Park as the second half started, but Heatherson put any remaining doubts to bed when she rose to head home Green's cross less than a minute after the restart.
Cousins put the icing on the cake 10 minutes from time when her cross from the right found its way into the bottom corner to spark wild scenes of celebration.
Captain Ellie Curson was quick to praise the home crowd after the match.
"These guys in the crowd today have made our dream come true today for us. They were absolutely incredible, I can't thank them enough," she said.
"We had a little talk at half-time. We did know the Bristol score, we knew there was a little bit of pressure on our shoulders and we had to go out there and make sure that was ours.
"It's been a long time coming, it's been ours since May and no one was taking that off us.
"I'd like to thank everyone, mainly the fans, you could just hear it today. 1,400 people have come out to watch little old Yeovil Town Ladies play.
"It's incredible for absolutely everyone; the management, players, I'd like to thank everybody."
Two goals apiece from Claire Emslie and Millie Farrow plus an own goal gave Bristol City a 5-0 win at Oxford United but it was not enough to snatch the title from Yeovil's grasp.
The Vixens had started the day knowing that a six-goal swing was needed in order to finish the season as champions.
City started brightly and opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Emslie picked up the ball just inside the Oxford half and beat her defender, before slotting home from 20 yards.
Their lead was doubled just after the half-hour mark when Jodie Brett's left wing cross was knocked into her own net by Oxford defender Madi Lee.
Emslie scored her second of the game two minutes later, heading in unmarked from Brett's right wing cross, before Farrow made it four in first-half stoppage time with a header from six yards.
The Vixens continued to apply pressure in the second half but were unable to extend their lead until the 83rd minute, when Farrow curled in her second from just inside the penalty area.
The result would have been even more emphatic but for a string of impressive saves from Demi Lambourne in the Oxford goal.
