FA Women’s Super League 2 review

By Ellen Farrell

The first season of the FA Women’s Super League 2 reached its conclusion last week; Ellen Farrell looks back on the action and assesses each team’s performance.

Sunderland fought off competition from Doncaster to be crowned league champions and gain promotion to the top flight, as the inaugural FA Women’s Super League 2 WSL 2) came to its conclusion. The Lady Black Cats went into their final match of the season against Millwall with a two-point advantage over second-placed Doncaster and a comprehensive 4-0 win at the Den secured Sunderland the title in their maiden WSL season. This was the first season of the WSL 2 and the inception of a second division is a sign of the growing popularity, profile and also competiveness of women’s football.

WSL 2 was not as closely contested as WSL 1 with 17 points separating first place Sunderland and fourth place Aston Villa and 39 points between Sunderland and bottom team London Bees. This is how the 2014 domestic season took shape for the WSL 2 teams:

Sunderland AFC Ladies

League position: 1st (47 points)

Top scorer: Beth Mead (15)

Biggest win: 4-0 v Millwall (League)

Biggest loss: 0-6 v Liverpool (Continental Cup)

Sunderland won the title in impressive fashion after winning 15 of their 18 league games, scoring 47 and conceding just 15 goals in the process. Their WSL 2 campaign started with a 4-2 victory against derby rivals Durham and the Lady Black Cats remained unbeaten until the 4th October where they lost 2-1 to Doncaster, which proved to be their only league loss of the season.

Doncaster’s win kept them in the title race and with the Belles’ superior goal difference Sunderland went into their final game against Millwall knowing only victory would guarantee them the championship.  The 4-0 win secured Sunderland’s fourth league title in as many seasons. Prior to joining the WSL they had won three consecutive FA Women’s Premier League titles. They will now compete with Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal when the 2015 FA Women’s Super League 1 kicks off next spring.

Doncaster Rover Belles

League position: 2nd (45 points)

Top scorer: Sue Smith (14)

Biggest win: 9-0 v London Bees (League)

Biggest loss: 0-4 v Reading (League)

Doncaster Rover Belles were controversially replaced by Manchester City in the WSL 1 and demoted to the WSL 2 for the start of the 2014 season. The Belles started their league campaign in dominant style, winning their opening five fixtures as they sat top of the table and were early season favourites for promotion. They showed their quality throughout the season as their form rarely dipped and they finished the season with 14 wins, three draws and one loss which was a 4-0 away defeat to Reading at the end of August that severely dented their title hopes.

Doncaster went into the final weekend of the season still in contention for the league.  However, their 9-0 thrashing of London Bees was in vain as Sunderland overcame Millwall to clinch the title.

Reading FC Women

League position: 3rd (41 points)

Top scorer: Francesca Kirby (29)

Biggest win: 9-1 v London Bees (League)

Biggest loss: 2-5 v Doncaster (League)

Reading finished in third place as the league’s top scorers. They netted an impressive 60 goals and 21-year-old Francesca Kirby scored almost half of them. The Royals had an inconsistent start to the season as their opening 3-0 win at home to Yeovil Town was cancelled out by two consecutive away losses to Sunderland and Doncaster respectively. They responded well to the early season defeats and went on a 12 match unbeaten streak which was ended by Aston Villa who beat them 3-0 in September.

They finished the league in emphatic fashion, winning their last five matches by margins of at least two goals including a 9-1 demolition of London Bees.

Aston Villa Ladies

League position: 4th (30 points)

Top scorer: Katie Wilkinson (6)

Biggest win: 4-1 v London Bees (League)

Biggest loss: 1-6 v Doncaster (League)

Villa’s campaign got off to a dismal start with a 2-0 home loss to Doncaster and they had to wait until the end of May for their first league win of the season which was a 2-0 defeat of Millwall. After a difficult start to the season, they gradually improved and Villa finished the league with a total of nine wins including a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Reading which ended the Royals 12 match unbeaten run.

They concluded their debut WSL season with a 2-0 victory at Oxford United.  However, six losses and three draws prevented them from finishing higher than fourth.

 

Yeovil Town Ladies FC

League position: 5th (22 points)

Top scorer: Sarah Wiltshire (10)

Biggest win: 6-0 v Oxford United (League)

Biggest loss: 0-4 v Notts County (Continental Cup)

Yeovil Town suffered a 3-0 opening day loss to Reading however this was followed by back-to-back wins against London Bees and Oxford United as they made a relatively good start to the season. After two promising victories, Yeovil’s form dipped and their next league win did not come until a 2-0 win against Millwall in late July.

They had their best spell in August when they went on a three match unbeaten streak including a convincing 6-0 defeat of Oxford United. Yeovil Town finished the season in fifth place after recording six wins, four draws and eight losses.

Durham Women FC

League position: 6th (18 points)

Top scorer: Caroline Dixon (7)

Biggest win: 3-0 v Watford (League)

Biggest loss: 1-7 v Liverpool (Continental Cup)

Durham had a difficult start to life as a WSL team as they fell to four consecutive league defeats including an opening day derby defeat to Sunderland. The Wildcats recorded their first points of the season when they beat London Bees 1-0 in May, courtesy of a stunning Jess Round volley.

They went on to win just four more matches as they finished the season with ten losses and three draws including a 1-1 draw on the final day of the season against Yeovil Town.

Watford Ladies FC

League position: 7th (18 points)

Top scorer: Kate Natkiel (6)

Biggest win: 6-0 v MK Dons (FA Cup)

Biggest loss: 1-5 v Chelsea (Continental Cup)

Watford opened their league campaign with two draws and a 2-1 win away at Durham although this was followed by two defeats at the hands of Doncaster and Sunderland respectively. They struggled with their form throughout the season and lost six matches in a row before they beat London Bees 1-0 in September which turned out to be their only home win of the league campaign.

The Lady Hornets finished the season in seventh with a 3-0 away loss to third placed Reading on the final day.

Millwall Lionesses

League position: 8th (15 points)

Top scorer: Lily Agg (4)

Biggest win: 4-1 v Durham (League)

Biggest loss: 0-4 v Sunderland (League)

A comfortable 4-1 win away at Durham in their second league game provided Millwall with a promising platform for the season. However, the Lionesses were unable to build on their successful start as they went on to win a total of just three league matches. They were a 2-0 victory against Oxford United, a 1-0 win at home to Watford and a comfortable 3-1 win over Yeovil Town.

On the last day of the season they lost 4-0 to Sunderland at home, a result which secured the title for the Lady Black Cats.

Oxford United Women

League position: 9th (12 points)

Top scorer: Lauren Allison (4)

Biggest win: 2-1 v Durham and Watford (League)

Biggest loss: 2-9 v Bristol Academy (Continental Cup)

Last season, Oxford United won the South West Combination League and in doing so were elected as members of the inaugural WSL 2. The step up in quality proved to be difficult for United to adapt to as they only managed to record three league wins.

They started the league with four straight losses and picked up their first points of the season when they drew 2-2 with Reading at the end of May. This was followed by their first win of the season which was a 2-1 victory away to Durham. However, they then lost five consecutive games including a 6-0 away loss to Yeovil Town at the end of August.

United’s league campaign ended in a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa as they finished the season in ninth place.

London Bees

League position: 10th (8 points)

Top scorer: Amber Gaylor (4)

Biggest win: 3-0 v Oxford United (League)

Biggest loss: 0-13 v Chelsea (Continental Cup)

Previously called Barnet FC Ladies, the team re-branded as London Bees last year and were successful in their bid to join the WSL 2. 2014 proved to be a very difficult season for the Bees as they lost 14 of their 18 league matches and conceded 57 goals, 13 more than any other team.

They had got off to a flying start, beating Oxford United 3-0 away in their opening match but heavy defeats soon followed including a 5-1 loss to Reading and falling 7-0 to Doncaster.

The Bees only other league win came when they beat Millwall Lionesses 1-0 at the end of August.

Their season ended with a 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Doncaster as they finished at the bottom of the table with just eight points.

Read more from Ellen Farrell here.

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