Mother’s Day delight as Aston Villa Women make it six unbeaten, defeating Millwall Lionesses

Aston Villa Women made it six matches unbeaten in the league putting their recent FA Women’s Cup exit behind them beating the Millwall Lionesses 3-1.

It took Jodie Hutton a matter of seven minutes to find the net after she scored from long range, though 13 minutes later an own goal saw the hosts back on level terms with their Lancashire counterparts.

After a stoppage-time equaliser from Tanisha Smith which saw her react first and tap the ball in, Villa also managed to beat Rhiannon Stewart one more time as substitute as Aoife Hurley headed in from a corner in the 69th minute. That completed the win for the visitors.

Chris Phillips named an unchanged starting XI following his side 2-0 loss to Lewes two weeks ago. Both Lucy Fitzgerald and Grace Neville who recently got called up to the Women’s U19 European Championships Qualifiers for England started.

New signing Georgia Robert who joined for Lewes FC made the bench after being announced prior to kick-off.

Gemma Davies also started the same team that lost 1-0 loss to West Ham in the Quarter-Finals of the FA Women’s Cup. Notable names in the Villa line-up was Amy West who scored against the Lionesses last time the two met and Hutton who going into the game had netted nine in 19 matches.

Kerri Welsh who also scored in the 2-0 win over the hosts last time out was missing from the starting XI and hasn’t played for the last two games since scoring in their 2-0 win over Charlton as she is still suspended.

Away side Villa were more dominant in the opening 10 minutes of the match, with the first chance of the game coming in the 5th minute through midfielder Hutton but it ended up being a relatively routine save for Lionesses keeper Stewart.

Just two minutes later the midfielder this time beat the Millwall keeper as a clearance from the Villa defence finds its way to the youngster who drove into the box and let fly seeing the ball end up in the back of the next, scoring her eighth goal in as many matches.

One minute later saw Millwall go close to levelling up the score-line as Beth Lumsden wasn’t closed down and manages to fire a shot at the crossbar.

It could have been 2-0 to Villa from a set-piece in the 11th minute as a corner taken by Sophie Haywood was cleared off the line by left-back Chantelle Mackie.

The lionesses continued on their pursue to score their first goal since that 3-1 win over the London Bees and in the 20th minute that came following a near perfect delivery from midfielder Lumsden which ended up getting looped into the back of the net by Villa defender Alice Hassall which brought the game all square at 1-1.

There were a number of near misses for the hosts with the first coming as Annie Rossiter blocked a ball in the box, luckily for them no one was around to tap it in. Riva Casley was also on hand to make a last-ditch tackle in the box 28 minutes into the game stopping Haywood from adding to her goal tally.

Following yet another escape where Hutton hit the crossbar in the 35th minute, Lionesses star-striker and captain Evie Clarke hit the post from just outside the box two minutes later.

Villa who continued to press finally made good on their attacking presence as Smith tapped it in following a cross from Hutton, this made it 2-1 to the away team late in stoppage time giving Davies’s side the lead going into the break.

The visitors missed a big chance to go two goals up in the 55th minute as the first scorer of the match Hutton headed the ball over the bar.

However, Villa looked on course to make it six league matches unbeaten in the 69th minute and did as Aoife Hurley added their third from a corner as Amy West picked her out with the defender heading it easily past the Lionesses keeper, the defender replaced Hassall in the 30th minute as she was injured.

Davies’s side were in complete control in the second half and could have added a four among others, Hutton managed to again fire wide from range after Smith’s cross 13 minutes from time.

This result means the Lionesses now have five points and remain at the foot of the table in 11th, while Villa move up to 7th in the table as they continue their battle for a mid-table finish.

Next up for Millwall is a trip to Durham on 21st April, as they hope to get enough points to jump over Crystal Palace and finally get off the bottom of the league.

Aston Villa have five games remaining with the next match they play away to table-toppers Manchester United on 17th April who beat Tottenham 5-1.

Millwall team: Rhiannon Stewart; Chantelle Mackie (OFF 81’); Riva Casley; Ylenia Priest (OFF 45’); Beth Lumsden; Lia Cataldo; Evie Clarke ©; Lucy Fitzgerald; Annie Rossiter; Fran Ali (OFF 75’) and Grace Neville.

Subs: Gabby Ravenscroft (ON 81’); Ellie Stenning (ON 75’) and Georgia Robert (ON 45’)

Unused Subs: Chloe Sansom; Freya Bailes; Michelle Young and Kalani Peart.

Cards: Ali (27’).

Aston Villa team: Sian Rogers; Asmita Ale; Elisha N’Dow; Jade Richards; Ashlee Brown (OFF 67’); Alice Hassall (OFF 30’); Amy West; Nadine Hanssen; Jodie Hutton; Sophie Haywood and Tanisha Smith.

Subs: Aoife Hurley (ON 30’) and Mollie Gibson (ON 67’).

Unused Subs: Natasha Baptise; Ria Elsmore and Alison Hall.