Sunday 4 October saw the ladies travel to a very wet and windy Walton Casuals in a Premier League fixture, thankfully on a well-drained artificial pitch. After last week’s fine performance, the squad were full of confidence, but unfortunately, they were unable to carry it through into this contest.

With a strong wind blowing in their faces and close pressing from Walton, the Brentford rearguard made everyone nervous with some careless passing. This seemed to affect the whole team as they struggled to string passes together, and were finding it difficult to play the free-flowing attacking football they have shown so far this season.

This set the pattern for the first half and it was not a surprise when a Walton player picked up a loose pass, and the ball flashed past Emily Boycott into the net. 1-0 to Walton and no one could argue that it wasn’t deserved. It wasn’t all one-sided as the Bees managed to beat the home defence on a few occasions, but couldn’t beat the assistant’s offside flag.

The second half started much better for Brentford with Rebekah Wiltshire switched to the right flank, and Amber Langston-Lloyd taking her place on the left. This provided the impetus the visitors needed, and a low pass from Amber evaded the defenders but not the on-running Rebekah who slotted home.  This was soon followed by a fine finish from Katlyn Spencer-Dempsey which started with a throw in from Amber.

The Bees were forced into some changes which seemed to unsettle the team, and spurred on the hosts, who converted from another misplaced pass. This was not helped by injuries to key players, and a controversial goal when Emily looked to have been fouled on the line and the ball was poked home. Walton made the most of their advantage and scored from long range to make it a 4-2 home win.

A very disappointing performance, but coaches Karleigh and Sean will make sure their squad are ready for next week’s home game against Dulwich Hamlet, who are one point ahead of the Bees.