AFC Bournemouth Women improved their chances of joining Southampton and Portsmouth in the Women’s Super League 2 after a 2-1 win against Oxford United.
Sophie Quirk was the player of the match for Bournemouth in front of 5,850 fans under the lights at Dean Court.
Bournemouth manager Helen Bleazard said before the game that her and the players were “really excited and grateful for everyone involved.”
The excitement was mirrored by fans of all ages who could be heard throughout the match chanting ‘back of the net, Boscombe’ whenever there was a corner for the home team.
Bournemouth’s goals were both spectacular – Charlotte Harris scored the winner as she cut inside and found the top corner from the left hand side of the box.
Bleazard said: “I turned around and saw her family going wild.”
She continued to joke that Harris ‘probably’ hadn’t scored a goal like that before.
Quirk’s opening goal was arguably even better as she curled the ball into the back of Beth Wookey’s net.
There was less surprise from her coach – Bleazard said: “She does that every week.”
Quirk left Portsmouth for the Cherries last summer having helped them get into the WSL Championship back in 2023/24.
Southampton are also in the league above and if bottom-dwellers Portsmouth stay up, we could see many more women’s south coast derbies at the Vitality.
Bournemouth travel to South-West London to take on relegation-threatened AFC Wimbledon on Sunday, who beat Lewes 3-0 on Wednesday.
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