Gareth Taylor’s squad travelled to Walton Hall Park where a Mary Fowler brace and goals from Ruby Mace and Esme Morgan earned a hard-fought win.
Opportunities were sparse for both teams in the opening 15 minutes with neither goalkeeper tested.
The first threatening chance fell to Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw when she was played through the centre by Jess Park and she battled hard to regain possession, but her shot was comfortably collected by Emily Ramsey.
With the ball, City looked to move play out wide via the midfield three utilising Park and Fowler to draw Everton’s defence out to the wings.
It caused plenty of issues for Everton and a lobbed ball to Fowler gave her space behind the opposition’s defensive line but Ramsey cut out her cross with Shaw waiting to meet the ball.
City were enjoying more of the possession and midway through the first half, Katrine Veje’s precision cross was met by Martina Piemonte to give the hosts the lead.
City’s relentless energy finally prevailed as half-time approached with Shaw teeing up Fowler on the edge of the box to fire an equaliser into the bottom corner.
With the countdown to the WSL start, Taylor opted to use his squad depth as he made plenty of changes at the interval to give his players valuable pre-season minutes.
The fresh legs allowed us to continue our strong spells of possession and we were ahead for the first time when substitute Mace’s powerful shot rattled into the top right corner.
Everton’s own substitutions proved effective with Heather Payne setting up Nicoline Sorensen, who beat Ellie Roebuck at the near post, to level the score line a few minutes later.
And they reclaimed the lead when City failed to clear after Payne’s shot came back off the crossbar and Sorensen turned in the rebound.
City kept pushing and Alanna Kennedy almost levelled with header that was superbly kept out by the quick reactions of Ramsey. But Esme Morgan turned striker with a shot tht deflected in as Everton failed to clear the set piece.
And with the Toffees on the back foot, City dealt the final blow. Lauren Hemp’s high press paid off as she pinched possession before feeding Park. Her pace took her clear and she nudged the ball into the path of Fowler for her second and City’s winner.
HOW WE LINED UP
Everton XI: Ramsey, Bjorn (Payne 62’), Finnigan, Stenevik, Hope, Veje (Bissell 73’), Vanhaevermaet (Wheeler 62’), Galli (Aherne 81’), Olesen (Bennison 46’), Piemonte (Sorensen 62’), Snoeijs (Duggan 88’)
Substitutes: Brosnan, Wheeler, Duggan, Bennison, Bissell, Sorensen, Payne, Clarke, Wilding, Aherne
City XI: Keating (Roebuck 46’), Casparij (Kennedy 68’), Aleixandri (Morgan 46’), Greenwood (Houghton 46’), Blakstad (Ouhabi 46’), Castellanos (Angeldahl 46’), Hasegawa (Mace 46’), Coombs (Hemp 46’), Park, Shaw (Roord 46’), Fowler
Substitutes: Roebuck, Houghton, Ouahabi, Mace, Roord, Angeldahl, Hemp, Morgan, Kennedy, Marley-Paraskevas, Prior, Lackey
