Southampton keep promotion hopes alive with narrow victory against Lewes | OneFootball

Southampton have kept their Barclays Women’s Championship promotion hopes alive with a narrow 2-1 win over Lewes at St Mary’s Stadium this afternoon.

Emma Thompson netted both goals for The Saints as they came out on top in front of a healthy crowd of 1,853.

Marieanne Spacey-Cale’s side went into this afternoon’s fixture knowing that they needed a win to stay in the battle for promotion. The Saints quickly established a two-goal lead and they showed their defensive strength as they kept Lewes from fighting back despite reducing the arrears with 50 minutes to play.

Thompson opened the scoring for Southampton in the 11th minute with a close range effort after being assisted by Lucia Kendall.

The Saints soon doubled their lead in the 15th minute with Thompson again on target. She stabbed the ball home after a corner kick wasn’t cleared by the visitors, leaving the attacker with an early first half brace.

Despite having less of the ball, Lewes pulled a goal back in the 40th minute when Grace Riglar netted from a Hollie Olding cross.

In the second half, Southampton were denied the opportunity to re-establish their two-goal lead as Kendall’s shot hit the bar.

At the other end, Kayla Rendell prevented Lewes from equalising when she reacted sharply to an Aimee Claypole effort. Rendell then made another crucial save to deny the visitors from benefiting from a corner which was headed in her direction by Riglar.

Both teams pushed for further goals but they were unable to convert any chances in the closing stages of the game as Southampton claimed an important three points to keep the heat on their promotion rivals.

Southampton are four points adrift of the Barclays Women’s Championship summit with just two games to play. Meanwhile, Lewes have two games to save their second tier status.