Late drama as Spurs Ladies go four clear in FAWC

Rianna Dean scored a last-gasp goal to send Spurs Ladies four points clear at the top of the FA Women's Championship in a thrilling 3-2 win against Millwall Lionesses, writes Rosie Bonass.

A quality finish from Sarah Wiltshire gave the Lilywhites the lead in the first half, but Evie Clarke found an equaliser for the home side just before the interval.

Substitute Emma Beckett scored her first goal for the club late into the second half and it looked to be the winner until an intense spell in stoppage time saw Millwall level once again through Beth Lumsden.

Right at the death though, a diligent Dean slotted the ball past Chloe Sansom to seal three points in a dramatic finale at Princes Park as the Spurs Ladies’ camp erupted.

Karen Hills made one change to her starting line-up as Angela Addison started ahead of Bianca Baptiste in attack and Josie Green was named on the bench after missing two games through injury.

Wiltshire fired the away side in front after 35 minutes with another glorious goal to add to her growing collection. On this occasion, the forward had Megan Wynne to thank for a superb cross into the area before she looped her volley into the top corner.

Millwall looked a different side to the one that Spurs beat 8-0 back in October at Theobalds Lane. A minute before the break they responded through Clarke, who made a dangerous run past Renée Hector to slot the ball beyond Chloe Morgan into the bottom right corner.

Despite piling on the pressure, Spurs struggled to find a way through Millwall’s stubborn defence, but with six minutes to go their luck changed when Beckett buried a header at the near post from Jenna Schillaci's corner.

The home side weren’t giving up without a fight and found another equaliser through Lumsden in the 91st minute as she headed in Lucy Fitzgerald’s free-kick.

But the action didn’t stop there with Spurs determined to leave Dartford three points better off. With only a matter of seconds left to play, one last cross in from Wynne found Ashleigh Neville in the area, she exquisitely flicked it into Dean’s path and the striker poked it past Sansom to secure a vital victory.

Match reaction

“It was a massive relief to see the ball go into the back of the net and I was buzzing,” said Dean, who now has 14 goals for the season. “It was quite a tough game, credit to Millwall because they have improved massively. We kept fighting until the end and it just shows how together we are as a team, what we want to do and where we want to go - we never lose faith."

Head coach Juan Amoros added: “It was a game that I think we dominated and it sums up the character of this group. They keep fighting until the end, they do it in training, they do it on and off the pitch. It shows the passion and commitment that the players have and to get the three points in the way they did is credit to them. At the end of the day football is about goals, they came into our box two or three times and scored twice, they had a game plan and executed it well, but a little bit of brilliance in the end saw us through.”

Match data

FA Women's Championship

Goals: Millwall Lionesses - Evie Clarke 44, Beth Lumsden 90+1; Spurs Ladies – Sarah Wiltshire 36, Emma Beckett 84, Rianna Dean 90+5.

Referee: Aji Ajibola.

Venue: Princes Park Stadium (Dartford FC).