Steve Kirby 'delighted' with Bristol City Women's win over Durham but expects 'twists and turns'

Bristol City Women's head coach Steve Kirby acknowledged that the club’s 5-0 win over Durham was a result that has been coming for the Robins following their recent performances.

City made a bright start to the game, with Jamie-Lee Napier and Emily Syme both coming close to the opener within the first ten minutes, but they were forced into an early change when Mari Ward was unable to continue after receiving a knock to her ankle.

The visitors put a bit more pressure on in the following few minutes but failed to create anything in the way of chances, and it was the Robins again who next came closest, forcing Durham goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders into a save to deny Syme once again.

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In another great passage of play, substitute Ella Powell was able to keep the ball in play down the right flank before skipping past her defender and playing in Syme, whose back-heel towards Lexi Lloyd-Smith was eventually cut out by the defence.

Durham then had what was their best chance of the game, as they nicked the ball just outside of their penalty area, and Lily Crosthwaite found herself one-on-one with Fran Bentley, though the City ‘keeper pulled off a crucial stop from close range to keep the score level.

But it was the Robins who eventually got their reward for their first-half display as Syme slotted past Saunders to give City a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time.

And just eight minutes into the second half, the midfielder doubled her tally, pouncing on a long ball and finishing low to the goalkeeper’s right.

It wasn’t long until Lloyd-Smith got in on the act - as she so often has this season - and this one was special as she was able to bend into the top right corner to extend City’s lead to three.

Substitute Tianna Teisar added a fourth late on, lifting her effort over Saunders and into an empty net for her second goal for the Robins having scored her first against Brighton and Hove Albion in midweek.

But City weren’t done there, Amalie Thestrup finished the job after spotting the Durham ‘keeper off her line and taking a shot from the halfway line, which nestled into the back of the net to seal a 5-0 victory.

Speaking after the Robins’ impressive victory, Kirby was full of praise for his side, who were able to not only win but also dominate against a team that started the day in second place.

“I'm absolutely delighted,” he remarked. “We've been on the edge of this type of result for a few weeks with some of the quality of our play. I’ve felt that we've been close but haven't quite achieved it, so to do it today just before the Christmas break, and against the level of opposition that we played today is an excellent feeling.

“It was also an opportunity to show the girls the level that they can achieve regardless of who we play in the league. We will approach every game expecting to win if we are going to be where we want to be at the end of the season; that's the expectation we have to have.”

But despite such a strong performance and result, the City boss was adamant that there is still plenty more to come from his team.

“I still don't think we're near the full product,” he admitted, “I still think that there are lots of key areas that we can and will continue to work on going into 2025, but that's a good thing.

“I don't want us to be at our best now; I want us to continue to have more things to improve on so that we can continue to evolve and improve and have even better performances.”

As the City fans made known towards the end of the game, the result saw the Robins temporarily sit top of the league ahead of Birmingham City’s clash against Charlton Athletic that kicked off later in the afternoon, but a 0-0 draw in that game does mean that it is the Blues who top the table going into the Christmas break, with the Robins in second, separated only by goal difference.

But just three points separate the league leaders and Sunderland in fifth, so it’s still all to play for in the Women’s Championship going into the second half of the season and Kirby claims that the tight nature of the league will only drive his players to continue producing positive performances and results.

“It's a really good league to be involved in,” he remarked. “We've obviously done really well today, but I'm sure that there'll be twists and turns along the way.

“It was going to be the case whether we won or lost today that there is still work to do, and obviously nothing is won in December.

“I'm really enjoying the fact that it's so competitive in the league, and there’s teams that can take points off each other. It makes it good, it makes it exciting and it brings the best out of us as staff and obviously the players as well.”

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