West Ham United Ladies returned to winning ways with a 2-1 FA Women's Premier League Southern Division victory over Keynsham Town on Sunday.
The Hammers, fresh from cup success in recent weeks, moved ahead of Keynsham in the table with the three-point haul.
West Ham started in fine fashion and, when Sarah McCrea opened the scoring in the tenth minute with a left-footed shot from distance, the signs where looking good.
Lily Mellors then hit a wonder strike on 16 minutes to put the Hammers firmly in control and they merely needed to keep the pressure on to secure the win.
However, the visitors had other ideas and started to fight back. Towards the end of the first half keeper Lauren Picton had to pull off two fine saves to keep a clean sheet at the break.
The second half started with both teams fully committed to finding the next goal which could influence the result.
Just before the hour Keynsham got their break, as their striker Katarzyna Rusek broke free of the Hammers' back four to move one-on-one with the Keeper and the outstretched leg of Lauren Picton was enough to send the striker to the ground giving Keynsham the penalty that was converted.
The last 30 minutes saw the Hammers hold on despite Keynsham's many attempts to break through and, although shaky at times, the Hammers defence remained solid to give them an important win.
West Ham United Ladies : Lauren Picton, Vicky King, Katie Bottom, Hayley West, Danica Revell, Emily Masters, Kelley Blanchflower, Lindsey Morgan, Lily Mellors (Zoe Lipley-Hinton 88), Cherrelle Albert, Sarah McCrea.
Subs Not Used: Jemma Beard, Jess Parlane, Danni Cliffe, Sasha Kelly