U's go down to league leaders in penultimate match of the season
United's excellent run of three successive away league wins was brought to an end as they were beaten 3-0 at league leaders Doncaster Rovers Belles in FA Women's Super League 2 on Saturday evening.
Goalkeeper Demi Lambourne was on top form to keep the Belles out in the early stages as they subjected the U's defence to heavy pressure. But when the hosts were awarded a penalty in the 23rd minute for handball, she was unable to keep out Sue Smith's spot-kick.
It took until the 58th minute for the second to come, the unmarked Bethany England diving in to head home Smith's cross.
And she grabbed her second and Doncaster's third shortly before the end after latching onto a Courtney Sweetman-Kirk pass.
Boss Les Taylor said: “Demi’s done quite well second half. She had a few one-on-ones where she’s dealt with the situation really well.
“We kept them down to one goal in the first half and I thought that if we’d won a few more second balls or 50-50 balls it would have given us a chance.
“Doncaster are a good side and deservedly got promotion, and we congratulate them on that, but for us to come and compete for 45, 50, 60 minutes is decent from our point of view.”
United end their season with a trip to Everton on Sunday 18th October.