Watford Ladies have been handed a good opportunity to reach the fifith round of the FA Women's Cup after Sasha Adamson's late strike sealed a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Golden Girls have been given another home tie against Keynsham Town who, like the Seagulls, play in the Southern Division of the Women's Premier League, with the game due to be played at Berkhamsted FC on Sunday, March 8.

Following the retirement of goalkeeper Lauren Davey - now the team's assistant manager - and with Cally Rowell, Kate Natkiel, Georgia Mays and Emily Heaslip sidelined through injury, John Salomon gave four debuts in the Golden Girls' first outing of the season on Sunday.

Cherie Rowlands, Yasmin Poole, Dawn Mallett and Anneka Nuttall all made their first competitive outings for the club, with Nuttall making the breakthrough in the 47th minute of the third round tie.

But it was the visitors, captained by former Hornet Fliss Gibbons, who had the ball in the net first. The hosts failed to deal with a unique, NFL-style kick off and the ball was tucked away by Jay Blackie, only for the referee to rule the goal out for handball.

Chloe Gunn had Watford's first effort with a long-range drive that was tipped over, but at the other end Rowlands was being kept busy on her debut, making three fine saves to keep the scores level.

The Golden Girls finished the opening period strongly though, and they maintained this positive approach after the restart, taking the lead when captain Megan Wynne broke down the right and her perfectly-weighted cross was dispatched by Nuttall from six yards.

Brighton went close to equalising when Rowlands tipped a Gibbons header over before Poole cleared another header off the line from the resultant corner.

But the visitors did get back on terms with 12 minutes remaining when substitute Sophie Perry found space in the penalty area to beat Rowlands.

This setback served to spur the home side on, with Adamson seeing a shot cleared off the line before Stacie Donnelly's follow-up was saved by Faye Baker.

After Rowlands had been forced into two more smart stops, Watford booked their place in the next round when Adamson got clear after a counter-attack and she fired past Baker in off the post.

However, there was still time for the Seagulls to almost force extra-time, but Hollie Wride was in the right place to clear another effort off the line.

Watford: Rowlands, Poole, Hector, Robe, Wride, Green, Gunn, Wynne, Farrow (Butterwick 88), Mallett (Donnelly 74), Nuttall (Adamson 54). Not used: Burgess, Deacon.

Highlights of the Golden Girls' cup victory can be watched here.

Video courtesy of Watford Ladies' YouTube channel.