Ashford Town 1 Norwich City Women 0

Norwich City Women’s hopes of an undefeated league campaign were ended on the final day of the season as they lost away at Ashford Town.

It took City far too long to find their feet in west London, and hosts Ashford took the lead only 10 minutes into the contest. Defender Anya Kinnane was the scorer, rising well at the back post to head past Sarah Quantrill.

In truth, the Canaries did not manage to lay a glove on Ashford before half-time, with the bobbly grass surface restricting what they could do in possession. Ellie Smith went closest to equalising with an acrobatic effort in the 44th minute, which bounced narrowly wide.

City continued to try and find a way back into the game after the break and Smith was at the centre of most of their good work, blazing over from inside the box before the hour.

Both Alice Parker and Natasha Snelling tried their luck with direct free-kick efforts, but neither strike was powerful enough to beat the home goalkeeper. Smith also saw a decent headed effort saved.

City stopper Quantrill saved an Alissa Down penalty late on, but it counted for little in the end.

Norwich City: Quantrill, Larkins (c), Flye, Strauss, Parker, Knights, Morran, Hailes, Smith, Kennard, Snelling. Subs: Daviss, Symonds, Shaw, Lawrence, Pernet.