Bristol City Women are high-flying in the Women’s Championship with four league wins on the bounce and a place at the top of the league table as they head into Sunday’s home clash against lower mid-table Durham Ladies.
Sunday marks an important clash for the Robins. With just seven matches left in a blistering competition for promotion to the Women’s Super League, a win on Sunday would cement the six-point buffer Lauren Smith’s side have built up against rivals London City.
Such a buffer could prove critical as the Robins enter an unenviable final six matches, in which they face the other four top sides in the table.
Smith has refrained from taking anything for granted as Sunday approaches. In the reverse fixture in early December, Durham’s Rio Hardy cancelled out Shania Hayles’ opener and City were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
Yet, three months on, Smith will certainly fancy her side, not least after last week’s display to wrap up a three-match week in which the Robins secured six league points from six, albeit were dumped out of the FA Women’s Cup in unsavoury fashion by Manchester City.
Smith lauded her side’s opening vigour against Palace, with slow-starts and emphatic second-halves coming to define most of the Robins’ season.
The fiery start came courtesy of new signing Grace Clinton. The Manchester United loanee notched a brace in the first-half with a cheeky lob over the keeper before finding the back of the net again with a low free-kick. Abi Harrison’s second-half strike put the game comfortably to bed.
The brace lifted Clinton’s goal tally to four since arriving in January. The England youth international marked her debut with a dramatic injury-time equaliser in the 3-2 win over Coventry United as Harrison grabbed the winner three minutes later.
Despite the fortuitous start to her City loan, Clinton was forced to miss City’s next three matches after receiving a red card in the subsequent match.
Nevertheless, Clinton has returned in fine form, combining well with Scotland international Harrison. The pair will certainly play important roles in Sunday’s fixture if the Robins are to emerge victorious.
Kick-off for Bristol City versus Durham is 2pm on Sunday at the Robins High Performance Centre.
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