Saints stung by another late equaliser as they lose distance in promotion race

SOUTHAMPTON FC Women were stung by another late equaliser against Newcastle United on Sunday, seeing them lose further ground in a tight promotion race.

Saints looked set for a 1-0 win, which would have drawn them two points off league leaders Birmingham and Durham until Newcalte hit an equaliser in the 100th minute.

Deanne Cooper struck at the death, as Newcastle's pressure, which saw them hit the woodwork and force an important save from Fran Stenson, paid off.

Saints were also denied by the woodwork mere minutes after Aston Villa loanee Freya Gregory handed them an early lead.

Allen elected to make one change from the side that slipped to a late 1-1 draw against fellow promotion hopefuls Durham last week.

Milly Mott returned to the starting lineup in place of Rachel Brown as Meg Collett shifted back to her more familiar right-back role.

Allen bemoaned her side's failure to take their chances against Durham at St Mary's last weekend but they made good on her frustration by taking an early lead.

England youth international Gregory dispossessed the Magpies' goalkeeper before rolling the ball into an empty net.

Southampton's good start was almost a brilliant one but an audacious effort from Molly Pike three minutes later was tipped onto the crossbar.

Newcastle weathered the early storm and cracked the crossbar themselves when Katie Barker's dink from a distance clipped the crossbar.

Former Saint Beth Lumsden came closer to an equaliser when she jinked inside from the left and prodded an effort narrowly wide of the far post before seeing another effort saved.

Newcastle full-back Demi Stokes appeared to pop her shoulder back into its socket and continue to play after she hit the ground awkwardly.

That was a sign of Newcatle's unwillingness to give in in front of over 11,000 fans at St James' Park.

Deep into eight minutes of additional time, former Chelsea defender Dean turned in a scrappy equaliser to send Saints home frustrated.