Barton celebrates her late goal against Tottenham
ALBION 1
Barton 85TOTTENHAM 1
Martin 29
Kirsty Barton netted her second free-kick in as many weeks as Albion women salvaged a point against Tottenham.
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The Seagulls had a couple of early chances as Lucy Somes found Rosie Kmita in space, only for the former Spurs winger to shoot wide from inside the box. Debutant Paula Howells then linked up well with Tammy Waine, with the latter seeing her effort deflected behind Chloe Morgan’s goal.
Spurs grew into the game and Wendy Martin became the focal point for their forward play. She found Andra Marcoci in space and Albion keeper Toni-Anne Wayne was forced to make a strong save.
Wayne was called into action again moments later denying Marcoci, from Lucia Leon’s through-ball, as Spurs came closer to breaking the deadlock.
The north Londoners took the lead just before the half-hour mark, when Martin headed home Leon’s cross at the second attempt after beating Wayne to the ball.
Tottenham continued to press forward, as Cally Beaumont put in a strong challenge to deny Katie O’Leary a clear path on goal before she tested the Albion defence once again with a shot straight at Wayne.
Spurs then almost doubled their advantage within minutes of the re-start, but Martin shot wide from inside the box.
Albion gradually improved as the half went on as Yasmin Poole and Somes tried to take the game to Spurs with a number of driving runs. Somes came close to scoring a spectacular equaliser after crashing the crossbar with a long-range effort.
Charlie Carter then made a driving run into the Tottenham half, but her pass was too heavy for Kim Whitcombe to latch on to.
Spurs also had two further opportunities to score a second goal, as Shannon Maloney and Martin both saw their efforts go wide of the target.
It looked like Albion were heading for a disappointing defeat until Robyn Downie brought Waine down on the edge of the area, resulting in a free-kick.
Barton stepped up and struck the ball past Morgan to level the scores, only for the linesman to raise his flag for a supposed interference in play inside the box. But the referee overruled the call and John Donoghue’s side were level.
The Seagulls could have snatched the three points late on as Whitcombe found Waine in space, but the Albion captain saw her effort saved by Morgan and the points were shared.
Albion: Wayne (GK); Carter, Thompson-Agbro, Beaumont (Whitcombe 48), Poole; Rosie Kmita (Capon 37), Barton, Young, Howells, Waine, Somes (Mollie Kmita 86). Subs not used: Sole (GK), Boswell.
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