Aston Villa Ladies 1 Durham Women 0

Lee Sanders insisted he was proud of his players as a Durham Women side beset by injury and illness fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against fourth-placed Aston Villa Ladies.

The visitors lost out to Maddy Cusack’s superb solo goal but almost salvaged a draw when substitute Meg Lawson rattled the bar from 30 yards.

Lawson was one of several youngsters thrown in at the deep end by general manager Sanders at Sutton Coldfield with many first-team regulars missing.

“We’ve had quite a number of injuries the last couple of weeks plus a tonsillitis bug in the camp this week so we’ve come here with five or six development players,” he said.

“We’ve finished the game with seven or eight 17-year-olds so it bodes well for the future. I can’t be too hard on them – they’ve done well and we nearly got a draw at the end.

“It’s a great strike from Meg that bounces back off the bar and hits the keeper – 99.5 times out of 100 that would go in.

“We’re missing not just players in key areas but experienced players. The younger players who have come in have done fantastically well but, at this level, it’s a lot on their shoulders.”

The hosts controlled the first half but Katie Wilkinson spurned their only clear-cut chance, heading a corner wide from six yards.

Cusack broke the deadlock two minutes after the interval with a fine individual strike, waltzing past two challenges into the area before slamming home.

The visitors rallied and Villa keeper Caitlin Leach made fine saves to foil Jemma Purfield and Beth Hepple.

Villa wasted chances to seal the points before Lawson’s late 30-yard rocket struck the woodwork, leaving boss Ron Mellor to demand more from his side when the two teams meet again at Durham next weekend.

“I don’t know how many chances we had but we just couldn’t get the goals. Had we finished a little more calmly, it would have been much safer than it was,” he said.

“They hit the bar at the end and could well have snatched a point but I think justice was done because we deserved to win.

“We scored a fine goal but we produced that sort of moment very sparsely and struggled to finish.

“We go to their ground next week and I hope for a more positive performance – I doubt whether we will dominate the game as much there because that was almost total domination.”

* The FA Women’s Super League has been newly expanded to two leagues for 2014. To watch all 18 clubs live in action buy tickets here: http://www.ticketstores.co.uk/fawsl