Foxes move out of WSL drop zone after gritty win against Seagulls with O’Brien on target
LYDIA BEDFORD hailed her players for putting their bodies on the line as Leicester gained an upper hand in their WSL survival fight.
Shannon O’Brien’s match-winning strike paved the way for a 1-0 defeat of Brighton and a second Foxes victory from 12 games.
The result saw Leicester move off the foot of the table before their Aston Villa duel with Birmingham returning to the drop zone.
Bedford said: “From front to back in the last 10 to 15 minutes Brighton piled on the pressure. They’ve got a very good coach.
“It was about finding our luck and sometimes luck has got to go your way.
“In those final moments, it was on our side with some great clearances and big headers.
“The fact they were willing to put their bodies on the line for this result shows where they are as a group.”
The hosts had the better scoring chances in the first half after an unsettled start.
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And they almost went ahead through Abbie McManus’s 24th-minute volley with Megan Walsh to tip the ball away.
Jess Sigsworth missed a decent shooting chance after finding space in the box with Inessa Kaagman clearing the ball out of danger.
At the other end, Danielle Carter’s shot was deflected for a corner before Lily Simpkins tested Demi Lambourne from distance near the half-hour mark.
The second spell saw Leicester break the deadlock with Samantha Tierney’s stunning long ball finding Sigsworth whose cross was slotted home by O’Brien.
And the Foxes survived a late flurry of attempts on goal before Brighton fell to their fourth loss on the bounce.
Albion boss Hope Powell said: “We were really fighting to get something out of the game in the second half, but Leicester were resilient. By our standards, we weren’t good enough.”
