Oxford United Women missed out on the chance to go second in the table as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat by Lewes on Sunday. The visitors were 2-0 up at half time following an Oxford own goal and a wonder strike from Olivia Carpenter, with Kate Wiseman pulling a goal back for the U's in the second half.
The game was preceded by a minute's silence to remember Maddy Cusack, a year after her death by suicide. Lewes, without a win so far this season, had already created a number of chances before a misplaced back pass went past Beth Howard and into the net to gift them the lead. After weathering some Oxford pressure, the visitors doubled their score when a corner was cleared as far as Carpenter 20 yards out. Her shot gave Howard no chance as it hit the underside of the bar and over the line.
Ten minutes after the break United pulled a goal back. They were awarded a free kick and Wiseman's delivery was missed by everyone, spinning out of goalkeeper Emily Moore's hands and dropping over the line.
Five minutes later, Phoebie Poole's shot was well saved by Moore as United looked for the equaliser. United continued to probe the Lewes defence, while the visitors also created chances on the break, but Oxford were unable to break down their stubborn defence and fell to their second defeat of the season.
After the game, manager Sam Rose said, "I'm not sure we deserved to lose the game. I know we weren't necessarily as tidy with the ball as we like to be and with it 2-0 at half time it meant we were chasing the game in the second half.
"We were on the front foot and played some good football and it's just not ended up in the back of the net for us. We're disappointed but it's a hard game to summarise."
United: Howard, Wiseman, Creaney, Legg (Lindbaek 66), Barratt, Poole, Sealey, Gotch (Budaieva 83), King, Oliver, Trinder (Burridge 46)
Unused subs: Sercombe, Richardson
