Bridget Galloway’s fifth goal of the season was enough to secure victory for Durham Women against a resilient London Bees. The striker pounced shortly after half-time to hand the Wildcats a much-needed victory. Lee Sanders made one change from the side that won at Crystal Palace last weekend as Ellie Christon replaced the suspended Sarah Robson. And Durham began brightly, with Danielle Brown’s low cross just evading Emily Roberts and Beth Hepple with only seconds on the clock. But it was Bees who had the first real chance of the game – Nicola Gibson seeing an effort come back off the crossbar before the rebound was hacked off the line by Mollie Lambert.
Megan Borthwick then had to be alert to come and smother a long ball ahead of Brooke Nunn, before Sarah Wilson slid in to deny Amelia Hazard a shooting opportunity.
Durham’s first real chance came via a Kathryn Hill effort from range as they struggled to really get going in the first-half.
But the hosts could have taken the lead before the break after a slick move saw Roberts find some space – only to see her effort tipped over by Sarah Quantrill.
That was the Bees’ stoppers first save of the afternoon, but she’d be forced to pick the ball out the net just six minutes after the restart.
It was Galloway who applied the finish, turning home from close range after good work from Brown and Lauren Briggs on the right flank.
The opening goal buoyed Durham, and Roberts was again denied by Quantrill after a good shot on the spin.
Hepple then sent a free-kick over before Brown – who enjoyed a sparking second half – saw her cut-back fired over by Mollie Lambert.
The Wildcats had to defend late on and put their bodies on their line as Bees applied some pressure, but Megan Borthwick was relatively untested in the second period.
And thanks to some fine rearguard action, Durham saw out a crucial three points on home soil.