'Foundations have been laid for games to come’ - Oxtoby.

Abi Harrison opened the scoring at Meadow Park in the sixth minute with a well-taken 25-yard strike, before gaols from Jordan Nobbs, Caitlin Foord and Vivianne Miedema handed all three points to the hosts. 

Positive performance

“We emphasised before the game that today was about being solid behind the ball and we looked to counter and hurt them once we won it back, and I think we did that effectively for the whole game today. 

“I’m just really pleased for the players and staff that we put in a performance that warrants a Barclays FAWSL team. 

“We needed to bounce back from the Chelsea game and we did that today, and now it gives us some confidence moving forward.”

Shift in mentality

“We spoke earlier in the week that there are bound to be some scars from that, and we had to push that out of our minds. 

“The players and staff couldn’t let that get in our heads this week, and I said that every time a thought about that comes into your head, you have to replace it with a positive one because we can’t look backward, only forwards. 

“The players were fantastic today in their performance on the pitch and I’m proud of them.”

Standout performers

“Today was always about building the foundations for the games coming up and we’re going to take some confidence from today. Players were playing out of position and they were brilliant, so that will give me some headaches going into our two other games this week. 

“Sophie Baggaley was exceptional in goal today, Yana Daniels was operating out of position at right wing back, Aimee Palmer playing centre-half and Emma Bissell starting in midfield. We were forced into a few changes and everyone did a fantastic job. 

“I’m delighted for Abi as well given the journey that she has been on over the last year. We spoke about taking early shots on the counter and she executed what we asked of her and it paid off with a goal.”

Oxtoby’s team face London Bees in the FA Continental Cup on Wednesday (October 7th, 7.30pm) at Twerton Park before they return to league action against Aston Villa on Sunday (October 11th, 2pm KO).