Ellie Mason’s superb second half strike helps the Golden Girls to their first league win of the season.
Watford Ladies secured their first league win of the season, winning 1-0 away at a strong Aston Villa side with a fantastic team performance.
On her first start for the club, Ellie Mason’s stunning second half strike proved to be the difference between the two teams.
The defence then held firm for a second clean sheet in three games, helping the Golden Girls move off the bottom of WSL2.
Both sides started strongly but it was Villa who had the first shot on target of the game, Alicia Robinson testing Shayla Burgess from 30 yards.
After an encouraging opening, Watford nearly took the lead on 13 minutes. Stacie Donnelly threaded a lovely pass through to Kate Natkiel, who looked to have placed her shot across the keeper perfectly but Jess Myers did well to get a leg to it.
It was end-to-end stuff early on, Katie Wilkinson was the latest to have a chance but her effort was straight forward for S Burgess.
The Golden Girls were having good spells of possession and Ellie Mason upfront was in particular causing problems, the striker with a couple of shots wide from tough angles.
In truth, it was a half of few clear cut chances. However it was fiercely competed by both sides with some good football on display.
The second half would be much more open, with a glorious opportunity after just 15 seconds. Wilkinson played in Abi Cottam but her strike went narrowly wide of the right hand post.
Villa had started the second half well, Olivia Fergusson found space in the box after some good movement but her effort was also off target.
Chances were now coming at regular intervals, Natkiel superbly won the ball from the Villa defence before forcing Myers into action with a shot from distance.
With not even an hour gone, there was more goalmouth action, Wilkinson with a little dink that appeared to be in slow motion, with it eventually hitting the post.
Mason, who was understandably getting marked tightly after her first half performance, appeared to get caught by a foot up high, thankfully the striker was fine to continue.
The nature of the game didn’t change after a break in play, Natkiel was denied again before Beth Merrick headed over at the back post.
With 20 to go, Watford created arguably their best chance of the game. A lovely long pass from Josie Green picked out Natkiel perfectly, she beat the Villa defender but couldn’t beat Myers, who stopped her with a fantastic save.
Four minutes later and the Lady Hornets finally found a way past the opposition keeper. Donnelly flicked a header on and Mason created something out of nothing, with a brilliant looping effort over Myers and into the net.
Looking to keep things fresh, John Salomon utilised all three substitutes in the final ten minutes, including bringing on Phoebe Read for her WSL debut.
It would have been understandable if there was few nerves trying to keep the lead but the team as a whole defended resolutely, preventing S Burgess from being called into action.
After four minutes added on, the referee blew for full-time and Watford had sealed a massive first three points of the season.
Here’s what John Salomon had to say:
“I’m really pleased to get that first win of the season, it was a tough game,” he explained. “Only a few weeks ago we were standing here having lost 4-1 to Villa, so to have turned that around and win 1-0 today shows how far these players have come in a short space of time.”
“It’s a massive credit to them because they’ve worked incredibly hard at training after we reviewed things and tried to change things slightly. I’m pleased for the players and obviously it’s great to get off the mark and get the first win.”
“We did the same thing when I first took over as manager, it took a few games to get it right and that’s happened this season. We started with a formation that’s worked for us in the past, it wasn’t early on so we changed it.”
“To throw something completely new at the players only two weeks into the start of the season meant that it was going to take time. There’s still a long way to go but to be here and to have made that improvement so quickly, it shows how dedicated they are.”
Recent signing Ellie Mason grabbed the winning goal for Watford and Salomon was pleased with that and her performance.
“It was a great goal,” he said. “My view was a little bit blocked so I didn’t see it completely but you could see the technique from the edge of the box to get her foot around the ball and strike it. It was pinpoint, right in the top corner.”
“Their keeper made some good saves before that, she’d denied Kate Natkiel on a couple of occasions and had made a few other saves, it was going to take something special to beat her today because she’s a good keeper.”
“It’s not just a goal for Ellie today, it was a very solid all-round performance. That’s a really good sign for us, we’ve brought in a player that we knew a lot about and she’s showing the qualities that we wanted from her which is great.”
The first three points of the season for the Golden Girls moves them off the bottom of the table ahead of London Bees, with a chance to build on that next weekend.
“We’re under no illusions,” Salomon tells us. “One win doesn’t mean we’re going to carry on this run now, we’ve got to get our heads down and work hard again this week in preparation for the Millwall game.”
“Our other point this season came against them so it’s another opportunity for us to go and show we’ve progressed and moved on since that point.”
“We now have to focus on giving this level of performance again if not more and trying the best we can to get the three points against Millwall. Things will then look very different on that league table.”
Watford Ladies FC Goal Scorers: Mason 75′
Watford: S Burgess, Heaslip, Burgess, Robe, Gillard, Wride, Green, Donnelly (Read 90+2), Dear, Natkiel (Adamson 82), Mason (Farrow 87)
Subs not used: Zekai, Butterwick, Nuttall, Scheffer
Goal: Mason (75)
