Bristol City Women’s 3-0 win over Durham Ladies both flattered and deceived, but if there were two players who ensured that the Robins remained on the right side of both descriptions, January loanees Gracie Pearse and Grace Clinton were convincing figures.
On loan from WSL sides Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United respectively, Pearse and Clinton injected a vital sense of decorum to a final scoreline that initially required a scrappy own-goal through Durham’s Becky Salinki to separate the two teams after a chary, disjointed first-half.
Such is the character required of a team gunning for promotion to women’s football’s promised land that the underwhelming 45 minutes shook itself into an exercise in dominance. It’s a narrative that has become familiar for Smith’s WSL promotion-hunting side whenever they face more physical, counter-attacking sides occupying the Championship table’s lower berths: riding out the first-half before taking control of the second.
So too are influential performances from Pearse and Clinton becoming more familiar.
Against Durham, it was Clinton’s forays forward with the ball at her feet that levied the biggest attacking threat as she cut into the box and attempted to inspire her forward line. Clinton arguably should have had a hat-trick by the match’s end had she not spurned earlier chances, including a curling effort that fizzed just over the crossbar to mark the second-half’s start.
Nevertheless, since the 19-year-old’s arrival from Manchester United in January, she has found the net five times in seven league appearances, three of which have come in her last two matches.
The goal streak is suggestive of Clinton comfortably settling in a loan spell kick-started by a dramatic and crucial debut goal before stuttering due to a red card in the subsequent match.
Pearse, too, looks to have settled comfortably on the left side of City’s back three, and on Sunday, she often shared the responsibility of rousing the home crowd. A solid defensive performance from the 20-year-old was punctuated by her determination to get into the opposition half and thread through balls into her forwards’ feet to ignite the attack.
Her goal – her second in all competitions for the Robins – was a just reward for her overall performance and epitomised the composure on the ball the defender showed throughout the match as she turned in the box and coolly rifled a loose ball into the roof of the net.
For Smith, the players’ increasingly commanding performances arrive with impeccable timing as just six matches remain in the season, three of which will be played on the road against sides in the three places beneath them.
Yet, Smith maintained that duo’s displays are not coincidental but rather the natural consequences of finally being afforded consistent game-time.
“They’re great. They’re good players in their own right, they just haven’t had the opportunity,” Smith said after Sunday’s victory. “What I’m proud of is that we can give them that opportunity and they deserve it. They keep working hard and everything they do in the match, everything we want them to do, they come and do that for us, so I think they’ve been great additions for us as well as Rachel Furness in January.”
Pearse and Clinton’s goal ensured that City extended their impressive winning streak in the league to five matches and their unbeaten league run to eight matches, a record for the women’s team. The pair have featured in all seven league matches since arriving at the club in January.
“I think probably the worst thing to come out of it all is that I’ve got a really bad headache when it comes to choosing the team and choosing the bench now because everyone is worthy,” Smith said.
“So now it’s just about how do we make the right choices to win our games and see our way out of the next few games.”
Bristol City travel to rivals London City Lionesses on Sunday as they continue their promotion bid.
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