Norwich City Ladies came close to pulling off an upset against high-flying Milton Keynes Dons in the FA Women's Premier League South East Division One before slipping to a narrow defeat.
With soft going under foot, staying upright was a challenge for both teams. Norwich soaked up some early pressure but found themselves on the wrong end of an indirect free kick in the 18 yard box with five minutes played. However, they dealt with the threat and began to settle into the game.
Both teams found it difficult to penetrate in the final third initially.
However, midway through the first period Norwich broke quickly down the left before the ball was fed to Aimee Durrant, whose effort beat MK Dons goalkeeper Savannah Smith, only to hit the crossbar. Hayley Turner tried to latch on to the rebound but the ball wouldn't come down for her in time and the ball rolled agonisingly wide.
Norwich started the second half with a substitution, Vivian Moyo on for Turner. With the tempo matching the intensity of the first, Dons became increasingly frustrated at their inability to break down a solid Norwich defence.
Norwich soaked up more and more pressure but couldn't continue to keep the Dons at bay and Amelia Hazard broke the deadlock on 70 minutes when for once Norwich were unable to clear the ball after an initial save.
The Dons threw their final substitute on at the restart, Louise Naylor on for Sasha Newsome. The final 20 minutes saw Norwich go all out for the equaliser and despite three solid chances Norwich couldn't find the net.
An agonisingly close defeat but Norwich can at least take heart from a solid performance. They will be hoping to take their form into their trip to bottom-placed Haringey Borough Women on Sunday.
Norwich: Coombes, McDonald, Ward, Diston, Parker, Moerkerk, Thacker, Turner (Moyo 46), Durrant, Snelling, Garrett, Subs not used: none
MK Dons: Smith, Doyle, Holland, Burgess, Newsome (Naylor 71), Gillings (Roberts 65), Clarke, Hughes, Hazard, Loftus, Mills (McDonnell 57), Subs not used: none
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Attendance: 41
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