Newcastle Women suffered a frustrating 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa as Lucia Kendall’s late double ended their four-match winning run.
Tanya Oxtoby’s side were level heading into the closing stages of Wednesday’s Subway Players Cup opener at Keys Park.
However, Kendall struck in the 84th minute before adding another in stoppage time to settle the contest.
Newcastle Women punished by late Kendall double
Lily Murphy opened the scoring after 11 minutes, but Oona Sevenius brought Newcastle level in the 27th minute.
The match record confirms the sides remained locked at 1-1 until Kendall’s decisive intervention.
Her second goal arrived in the second minute of added time, leaving Newcastle without a point from their opening fixture.
Oxtoby made nine changes from the side that beat Leicester City 4-0 on Sunday, with Charlotte Wardlaw and Mollie Lambert retaining their places.
Jordan Nobbs, Jessie Gale and goalkeeper Kayla Rendell were among those brought into the starting XI.
Newcastle had responded to Villa’s early breakthrough, but could not protect that position through the final stages.
Durham next as league campaign resumes
The defeat does not eliminate Newcastle from the competition.
This season’s Subway Players Cup format gives United six league-phase fixtures. Their next cup match is against Sunderland on 18 October.
Before then, attention returns to the promotion campaign and Sunday’s trip to Durham.
Newcastle have won their opening four WSL2 matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding once. Oxtoby will now look for an immediate response as her side aim to maintain that perfect league record.
