CARLY Johns scored twice as Oxford United Women beat Portsmouth in a top of the table clash at Court Place Farm.
Following three successive 1-1 draws, the U’s returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory.
With just under half an hour played, United took the lead when Daisy McLachlan stole the ball off Nicole Barrett, and fed Johns, who bent the ball past Hannah Haughton for her fourth goal of the season.
The U’s almost grabbed a quick second when Lacy-Jai Liggett forced a save out of Haughton, after controlling the ball on her chest and sending a volley towards the bottom left corner.
“I tried sticking to the basics and doing what I was good at last season, and it came off a little bit.”
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) October 24, 2022
Billy Bodin feels he was getting back to his best for #oufc at the weekendhttps://t.co/oZmZ5KjEQO pic.twitter.com/lpTUzIavBN
Rose Kite was relatively untroubled in the United goal, but on 73 minutes was beaten by Sophie Quirk, who shot past the onrushing goalkeeper but wide of the post.
With 15 minutes to go, the U’s came close to finding a second goal.
Shelly Provan’s deep cross found Leah Burridge, who headed her effort onto the top of the crossbar.
Portsmouth piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser, but it was United who got the game’s second goal when Johns got in behind the Portsmouth defence and was brought down inside the penalty area.
She took the spot herself, sending the ball into the top corner, securing the three points as the U’s stay second in Southern Premier Division.
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