Plenty of headlines were made in matchweek three of the Barclays Women’s Super League 2 as Newcastle United downed Sheffield United to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season, while Bristol City secured lift off after beating Watford for their first win of the new campaign.
Elsewhere, injury-plagued Leicester City suffered their first defeat of the season against the in-form Ipswich Town, while Wolverhampton Wanderers stretched their unbeaten run at home to 21 matches after securing back-to-back wins in the BWSL2 for the first time against old foes Burnley.
Matchweek three also marked the one-year anniversary since the sad passing of Matt Beard, with all 12 BWSL2 clubs paying tribute to one of the game’s most beloved figures with applause after 13 minutes – a homage to the year 2013 when Beard led Liverpool to their first WSL title.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 Burnley
A rivalry was renewed in the opening game of matchweek three as Wolverhampton Wanderers locked horns with Burnley, with the home side exacting revenge on the side who pipped them to the Northern Premier Division title last term.
With their recent fixtures having been decided by a single goal, another tight contest was expected at the SEAH Stadium and that was the case until Wolves blew Burnley away with three goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half
After scoring the Old Gold’s first-ever BWSL2 goal in the win over Sheffield United five days earlier, Amber Hughes found the back of the net once again with a controlled header following a wonderful cross from the electric Melissa Lawley.
Rewarded for her superb cameo against United with a place in Dan McNamara’s starting lineup, the fleet-footed Melisa Filis repaid her manager’s faith by making it 2-0 thanks to a long-range effort which took a huge deflection off Jessica Hennessy.
And Wolves were in dreamland in added time at the end of the first half as Anna Morphet sent goalkeeper Jackie Burns the wrong way from the penalty spot, after Yana Daniels was cut down in the box by Emma Siddall.
Alethea Paul and Brenna McPartlan pushed for a consolation goal for Burnley, but Wolves were able to weather that early second-half storm to make it back-to-back victories in the BWSL2, whereas the Clarets are now winless after three games.
Durham 1-2 Nottingham Forest
In a match that brought together two teams who were searching for their first wins of the season, it was Nottingham Forest who managed to claim all three points after they came from behind to clinch victory at Maiden Castle.
Durham, who honoured Beth Hepple before kick-off after she reached 300 appearances for the club against Leicester City last time out, should have taken the lead after a minute when Olivia Fergusson blazed over with the goal at her mercy.
However, after summer signing Rachel Lowe headed over from close range, Durham finally made their pressure count when Bayley Hutchison collected Sarah Wilson’s lofted pass before looping a shot over Emily Batty and into the net.
But Durham were only in front for 10 minutes as Forest, repeatedly urged to “play forwards” by their animated manager Tom Mallinson, restored parity through a long-range stunner from last season’s top scorer Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah.
And the Tricky Trees eventually took the lead when captain Georgia Brougham tapped home at the second time of asking from an Abbie Lafayette free-kick, with Durham having now conceded three goals from set pieces this season.
Willie Kirk’s hosts pushed for a late equaliser in difficult conditions which brought strong wind and glaring sunshine, but they ultimately fell to their third successive defeat as Forest maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Sunderland 0-0 Southampton
In the most eye-catching tie of matchweek three in the BWSL2, both defences were on top as Sunderland and Southampton played out a high-entertaining draw which preserved their unbeaten starts to the season.
The first of five matches to be played at the Stadium of Light this term, Sunderland keeper Frances Stenson and Southampton shot-stopper Grace Moloney – competing against their former clubs – made great saves to deny Freya Jupp and Katie Kitching.
Southampton midfielder Chloe Peplow caused problems all afternoon with her excellent set plays, while in-form Sunderland winger Katy Watson – who completed the joint-most dribbles (3) – also conjured excitement every time she had the ball.
The Saints came close to breaking the deadlock once again when Mary Bashford played a superb ball in behind for Jupp, only for rock-solid Sunderland defender Rhiannon Roberts to make a brilliant recovery tackle.
And at the other end, Sunderland found little joy up against the terrific Megan Collett, who made the joint-most defensive contributions (11), as the hosts saw their two-game winning run come to an end while the visitors recorded a second successive stalemate.
Watford 1-5 Bristol City
After losing their opening two games against tough opposition in Sunderland and Newcastle United, the season starts now for Bristol City after they thrashed a Watford side who were reduced to nine players at Vicarage Road.
The start of what would be a magnificent day at the office for Rio Hardy, the Robins taliswoman opened her account for 2026-27 with a stunning, left-footed effort which found the top corner past Safia Middleton-Patel after 37 minutes.
In the best move of matchweek three in the BWSL2, City then went from back to front in just six passes as Francesca Bentley, Marine Dafeur, Gemma Lawley, Sophie Ingle, Dafeur again and Maria Farrugia teed up a first-time finish from Hardy, her second goal of the game coming after 62 minutes.
City were given a warning shortly after when Saoirse Noonan scored for the second game running for Watford, with referee Aaron Ford allowing Aoibheann Clancy to take a corner despite the fact Alexia Apostolakis was stricken with cramp.
And Ford was involved once again when deciding to send off Lucy Lyon after she brought down Hardy inside the penalty area, with the City striker stepping up to convert the resulting spot-kick to complete her hat-trick.
The chaos continued in the final 15 minutes as Watford – who drew their opening two games against Burnley and Forest – saw substitute Eva Gray sent off for fouling Lotta Lindstrom as the last defender, before an own goal from Clancy and a strike from Katie Robinson wrapped up the three points for Charlotte Healy’s City.
Newcastle United 4-1 Sheffield United
Hailed as a selfless team player by manager Tanya Oxtoby in a pre-match interview, Martha Thomas was the star of the show this time around with two goals and an assist as Newcastle United roared past Sheffield United on home soil.
After picking up a loose ball on the right-hand side, the experienced Thomas, 30, was allowed to roam infield before stabbing a pass through to the outstanding Beth Lumsden, who made it 1-0 with a lovely left-footed drive after 15 minutes.
Newcastle doubled their lead just three minutes later when Kaitlyn Torpey scored her maiden goal for the club with a cool finish from inside the box, before the hosts were breached for the first time this season when goalkeeper Anna Tamminen saw her clearance deflect in off tenacious Sheff. Utd forward Lucy Quinn.
However, the away side – who lost their opening two games to Leicester and Wolves – saw their hopes of finding a leveller wiped out by Thomas, who headed home from a Torpey cross just 11 seconds after the restart, before the forward made it 4-1 after latching onto a pass from Lumsden.
On a day which also saw star player Jordan Hobbs make her first appearance of the season, Newcastle upheld their perfect start to the campaign with a third win in a row against a Sheff. Utd side who are now bottom of the BWSL2 table.
Leicester City 0-1 Ipswich Town
In the final game of matchweek three, Leicester City and Ipswich Town put their unbeaten records on the line at the King Power Stadium, with the visitors keeping theirs intact with a stunning 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.
After drawing their opening two games against Forest and Southampton, the Tractor Girls earned a first win of the season against an injury-ravaged Foxes side who lost captain Sam Tierney to an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) in the lead up.
With just seven substitutes on the bench due to the other absences of Olivia Clark, Leah Eddie, Celeste Boureille, Olivia McLoughlin and Emma Jansson, Leicester were at least able to welcome back goalkeeper Katie Keane for the visit of Ipswich.
However, the highly-rated shot-stopper was unable to prevent what turned out to be the winning goal from Ipswich defender Bethan Roe, who stooped to meet a cross from Georgia Timms after 42 minutes on Filbert Way.
A depleted Leicester side – who won their opening two fixtures against Sheffield United and Durham - were only able to muster up one shot on target against a resolute Ipswich side who have now kept back-to-back clean sheets ahead of next weekend’s mouth-watering home clash against Wolves.
