Villa Women ease Carla Ward’s pressure

Late goals from Megan Connelly and Ebony Salmon ensured Villa ended their run of five straight defeats and moved off the foot of the table and above Sunday’s opponents in the process.

Meanwhile, there was plenty of action in the first round of the FA Cup.

Wolves thrashed local rivals Stourbridge 8-0 at the New Bucks Head. Jade Cross bagged a hat-trick, while Amber Hughes (two), Beth Roberts, Sophie Bramford and Anna Morphet all added to the scoresheet to complete the rout.

It was an enjoyable weekend for Albion, too, as they won their first-round tie against Lye Town 8-2.

Sian Johnson put Lye 1-0 ahead after 14 seconds before Phoebe Warner equalised late in the first half to send the teams into the break level.

The visitors took the lead again early in the second half when Johnson netted her second with a remarkable finish from the left wing.

But the hosts proved too powerful and second-half goals from Delphi Cole, Mariam Mahmod, Phoebe Warner, Ash Brown, Abi Loydon, Simran Jhamat and Olivia Rabjohn made sure the scoreline was convincing.

Lowri Walker netted a brace for Sporting Khalsa in their 3-0 FA Cup win over Crewe Alexandra, with Skye Owen also finding the net. Khalsa will now travel to Nottingham Forest in the second round of the competition.

Albion host Needham Market, and Wolves have been drawn at home to Peterborough United.

Birmingham City made it four wins in a row with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at London City Lionesses.

Darren Carter’s side took an early lead through Gemma Lawley’s fourth-minute goal and held on for all three points.

The win takes Blues four points off the Championship automatic promotion places, and Carter wants his side to keep the momentum going.

“I’m really pleased with the result and the all-round performance,” he said. “London City is a difficult place to come, we’ve found that out in previous years, so I’m pleased with how we managed the game.”

Carter added: “We started the game with a lot of energy and on the front foot which is what we wanted.

“And in the second half we made a slight change and I thought we gained full control of the game.”

In the West Midlands Premier Division, Kidderminster Harriers travelled to Lichfield City and completed a 5-0 thrashing. Jasmin Springer, Lara Stevens and Dionee Williams all scored one each, with substitute Demi Phillips adding two goals during her second-half cameo.

Walsall went third in West Midlands Division One North with a 7-2 win at home to Coventrians.

Mia Fellows scored a hat-trick, with Rhiannon Bate, Maicie Golding, Saanya Najib and Emily Jane Golding all adding one goal each.

Elsewhere in the division, Nicole Bayliss and Chloe Chapman’s goals gave Walsall Wood a 2-2 draw away at Coventry City.

In Division One South, Sedgley & Gornal United were without a fixture once again.

They have not played since early October having lost their first four games of the season.