Durham opened their Barclays Women’s Super League 2 season in style with a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth at Westleigh Park.
The first chance of the game came from Portsmouth, with the ball heading goalwards by Angelina Nixon but her effort was tipped over the bar by Cat Sheppard.
Grace Ede’s 23rd minute goal gave Durham an early lead before Mariana Speckmaier doubled the advantage.
Ede opened the scoring, after brilliant pressure from Beth Hepple, stealing the ball just outside the box, with Grace Ede confidently finding the back of the net.
Durham doubled their lead in the 38th minute through Lauren Briggs’ excellent cross into the box, finding Hannah Blake, who fired the ball across the six-yard box to Mariana Speckmaier who tapped it home.
Portsmouth piled on waves of pressure in the second half but were unable to put themselves on the scoresheet.