England scores but it ends all square at Brighton in WSL
Bethany England's third goal in two league games was cancelled out by Marisa Olislagers as honours ended even at Brighton & Hove Albion in our final Women's Super League fixture of the calendar year on Saturday.
The striker finished from inside the box in the 75th minute after a moment of real quality involving Jess Naz and substitute Martha Thomas, but an impressive strike from Olislagers towards the end meant it finished 1-1 at Broadfield Stadium.
Brighton arguably had the better of a goalless first half, although Ashleigh Neville's crosses into the box from the right flank were always a threat for us. Olislagers squandered a couple of openings down the left for the hosts while Jelena Cancovic's deflected shot was stopped by Eleanor Heeps before Pauline Bremer flashed a low shot fractionally wide on 21 minutes in Brighton's best opportunity of the first half. Heeps also did well to keep out a Nikita Parris header on her line in the run-up to half-time.
We upped the tempo in the second half and the lively Naz combined with England a couple of times, the striker seeing a good shot-on-the-turn saved by Sophie Baggaley after one such exchange on the hour. At the other end, Michelle Agyemang proved a dangerous outlet for Brighton after coming off the bench and she was involved in the build-up as a deflected shot from Parris brought a low save out of Heeps.
In the 75th minute, it was us who broke the deadlock as Naz burst forward down the right, played it in-field to Thomas - who also injected some fresh attacking impetus after her introduction off the bench - and she squared for England to finish clinically from the middle of the box.
Naz couldn't quite turn Hayley Raso's cross on target as we went agonisingly close to a second moments later - and we came to rue that moment as on 83 minutes, in the wake of a Brighton free-kick, the ball was headed out as far as Olislagers who fired a superb half-volley across goal and into the far corner to restore parity.
Following a brief suspension of play due to a medical emergency in the stadium, Agyemang's low shot was smothered by Heeps while Thomas fizzed an effort just off-target for us during an extended spell of stoppage time. Heeps denied Kiko Seike at her near post while Clare Hunt made a superb late block to thwart Agyemang as the spoils were ultimately shared.
Match data
Goals: Brighton - Olislagers 83; Spurs - England 75.
Yellow cards: Brighton - Carabali 46; Spurs - Neville 44, Nilden 68.
Referee: Lisa Benn.
Venue: Broadfield Stadium.
Weather: Partly cloudy, light winds, three degrees.
Attendance: 2,083.