Chiara Meola’s tap-in helped relegation-threatened Watford surprise London City Lionesses 1-0 at Vicarage Road.

The match winner struck just before the hour to secure just a second win of the league campaign for the Golden Girls, and their first in a home fixture, in front of more than 1,200 fans. The defeat means the Lionesses can no longer win the Championship.

A delighted Meola said: “I’m buzzing. We’ve worked so hard throughout the whole season. We’ve had our ups and downs, but the girls put in a great shift and got the three points.

“I just saw Ade [Fatuga-Dada] driving, and I was like ‘I have to be quicker than her’. I just made it to the box, and she gave me the great assist to tap it into the net.

“It’s good to score here, good to score for the team. Everyone deserves it, everyone works so hard outside of here. We more than deserve the three points. The fans were brilliant. All the girls came round me. It’s a great feeling.”

Watford remain 11th after the win but are now nine points clear of bottom-placed Coventry City, who occupy the relegation place.

Meola is hoping her side can push on from the win and she added: “We keep working hard. We’ll enjoy the three points now, but we go back on Tuesday. When we get back to the dome on Tuesday, we work hard, and we prepare for Sunderland.

“We just keep building on this game. We have such a great togetherness at the minute. We’ll stick together and get something out of next weekend.”

The hosts gave a start to new signing Andria Georgiou, who was previously with Coventry, while fellow new arrival Gemma Davison came on in the second half following her return to the Hornets’ ranks.

It was goalless at the break in what was a fair reflection of a tight affair.

Shanade Hopcroft’s early shot for the visitors was cleared, while Lily Agg’s 22nd minute header was comfortably caught by Watford keeper Georgie Ferguson.

Watford had the ball in the back of the net after 25 minutes when Adekite Fatuga-Dada beat the last defender, but she passed to Flo Fyfe, who was offside.

Hopcroft found space to shoot low in the 34th minute, but it was punched wide by Ferguson.

The visitors started the second half strongly, with Agg’s low header in the 49th minute and an Amy Rodgers shot three minutes later both well stopped by Ferguson.

But Watford’s goal came against the run of play just before the hour mark. Fatuga-Dada found her way past the Lionesses defence before squaring to Meola who tapped it in.

London City tried to find their way back, with Mollie Rouse shooting wide and then just over in the minutes following Meola’s goal.

Watford’s Corinne Henson blasted towards the top corner with ten minutes remaining, but Shae Yanez pushed it out for a corner.

Charlotte Fleming’s shot from distance for Lionesses went just over as the clock wound down and Watford held out for the victory.