Katie Stanley believes Watford Ladies put up a good show against Yeovil Town this afternoon despite a 2-1 defeat in the WSL2.

Goals from former Golden Girls player Sarah Wiltshire and Nadia Lawrence handed the visitors their first league win of the season in what was a solid performance from the Glovers.

Stanley, who signed for Watford last month, did grab a consolation strike deep into second-half stoppage time.

Despite the disappointment of losing, Stanley believes there were positives to take from the clash.

“We matched them and Yeovil are a team who have gone very public about the fact they are going for promotion and we matched them, so that is good,” she said.

“We were expecting them to be good, but the two goals we conceded were a bit soft.

“Yeovil’s movement was really good, but in terms of shots on goal, I didn’t think they were massively threatening.”

The opening 15 minutes were a scrappy affair with balls crossed into either of the boxes being dealt with by both defences.

But the deadlock was broken after 16 minutes when Wiltshire managed to bounce through a couple of tackles on the left-hand side of the box. Her shot went across the goal and went in after hitting the right-hand post.

Yeovil’s movement around the pitch, with players switching positions at will, was proving tricky for Katie Rowson's charges to get to grips with.

The visitors nearly went 2-0 up in the 24th minute when Mollie Burgess cleared off the line from a corner which saw Annie Heatherson’s scuffed shot nearly ricochet in off Sahara Osborne-Ricketts, making her first appearance in a Watford shirt for a couple of years after returning from Oxford United.

It was beginning to look comfortable for the visitors and Nicola Cousins nearly gave the Glovers a great start to the second half as her volley forced a save from Lucy Gillett four minutes after the restart.

The hosts did conjure up some pressure and went close when Charlotte Kerr’s pass from left nearly found Stanley at the back post, but the outstretched forward could not reach the ball.

Visiting goalkeeper Charlotte Haynes had to wait until the 73rd minute to make her first significant save of the game after Chontele Lawrence got on the end of an Osbourne-Ricketts free kick and fired a shot on target.

Inside the last 15 minutes, Watford kept pushing in search of a goal and went agonisingly close when Anneka Nuttall’s free-kick caused havoc in the box and eventually saw Lawrence’s header hit the bar.

However, they were left despairing with 12 minutes left as Wiltshire’s run down the right saw her reach the byline before cutting the ball back into the area. Heatherson could only kick the air, but Lawrence made no mistake as she thundered in a strike.

A nervy finish was set up when Stanley latched onto a long ball and sent home a shot which Haynes had no chance with in injury time, but unlike in their WSL2 opener against London Bees, Watford could not complete a dramatic comeback and earn a successive 2-2 draw.

Watford Ladies: Gillett, Farrow, Osborne-Ricketts, Burgess, Tullett, Donnelly, Stanley, Nuttall, Littleboy, Kerr (Richardson 90), Lawrence (Read 81). Subs not used: Pepper, Cheadle, Wootten.