West Ham United Ladies kick-started their FA Women's Premier League Southern Division season with a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth at Ship Lane.
Having suffered defeat by the same scoreline at Charlton Athletic in their opening fixture, the Hammers were able to celebrate a win following a physical and hard-fought encounter in Thurrock.
Mark Saunderson's side started well and took the lead after just 17 minutes, as Natalie Crinean capitalised on a poor back-pass by the Pompey defence to steal in and toe poke her finish across the line.
West Ham added a second just eleven minutes later, with an audacious, looping effort from Vicky King catching out Sadie Blakeley in the Portsmouth goal.
The Hammers went in two goals to the good at half-time, but the match had not been totally one-sided, with warning signs of a potential Pompey fight-back, one that duly followed.
From the outset, Portsmouth had peppered Toni-Anne Wayne's goal from distance and continued to apply pressure as the half wore on, with free-kicks in the 66th, 70th and 71st minutes coming close. But the West Ham goalkeeper was equal to everything thrown at her.
Portsmouth, however, finally broke through in the 73rd minute, as Lucy Quinn scored directly from a corner to hand the visitors a lifeline. They continued to press and forced the Hammers to play in their own half for extended periods of time.
As time ran out for Portsmouth, the visitors saw an effort cannon off the crossbar in the third minute of stoppage time as West Ham held on for a valuable three points.
West Ham United Ladies: Wayne, Kelley, King, West, Revell, Morgan, Little, Blanchflower, Crinean, Merritt, Albert
Subs used: Bottom, Bowers
Subs not used: Picton, Reed, Houlihan
The Hammers celebrate Vicky King's goal against Portsmouth
*The Ladies' junior sides were in action at the weekend. Having started pre-season training at the West Ham United Community Sports Trust in Beckton last week, the Under-17s, Under-13s and Under-11s took to the pitch for the first time in 2013/14.
The U17s scored a 6-1 friendly victory over Chinnor Girls, with Sarah Wilson and Aldana Zenker scoring twice each and Sarah Harrison and Courteney Brown also getting their names on the score sheet.
The U13s competed in a tournament at FC Clacton in Essex and returned with the trophy. West Ham won all four matches they contested without conceding a goal, beating both the host club and Leigh Ramblers twice.
Finally, the U11s travelled to Southend to compete in the Trinity FC tournament. The young squad managed a very good 2- 0 win in their opening game against Island Girls, before being defeated by the same scoreline by Tottenham Hotspur.
Their third game saw the Hammers playing against older opposition and again the young Hammers battled on regardless of the age difference only to lose 2-0 to the more physical and experienced Trinity FC side.
West Ham United Ladies Under-13s