Having been shorn of the services of top scorer Lauren Amerena thanks to the bright lights of West London (Queen’s Park Rangers), manager Jesus Cordon was looking to arrest a wretched run of results that had seen them slump to the bottom of the table.

Centre-half Mia South returned to the fold, while Taylor Chamberlain, Megan Gates and Keira Morris all made their way back into the matchday squad.

Greeted by a gloriously sunny day at the University of Bournemouth Campus, everyone still had a full complement of fingers and toes at the start of play, as particularly those in the away dugout enjoyed the warmth penetrating through the back of the perspex construction.

The action got underway early in the third minute, courtesy of Elle Elkins making headway along the right flank and fizzing in a low ball that went inches wide of the far post.

Boosted by an impressive victory over the Reds next opponents Bridgwater United in their last home outing a month ago, the Wasps were well and truly buzzing after the winter break but were finding their guests tough to break down.

Indeed, nearly twenty had elapsed before travelling ‘keeper Ella Hunkin was forced to come out and smother a Sports attack, with Isobel Weatherley lobbing harmlessly into her hands on the follow-up.

A midfield stalemate then ensued as Worthing needed to fire up front, while being careful not to leave gaps at the back to lift themselves clear of danger and Bournemouth had designs on the top four.

It came as little surprise therefore that it wasn’t until stoppage time that any further chances of note were created by either team.

Sophia Wickenden tried to take advantage of home custodian Jess Vallis being partially blinded by the sun via a free-kick that drew a fine save out of the number forty-four, at the expense of a corner.

The set-piece was taken quickly by Skye Bacon for the same player to suffer the agony of seeing her second effort cleared off the line by a yellow-and-black striped defender.

The first-half came to a conclusion thanks to Hunkin showing speed of thought again to nullify the threat of the ever-dangerous Elkins; reaching the edge of the penalty area to thwart the right-winger, as she burst through the Rebels’ rearguard.

The second period got underway in a similar vein to the first, when, in the opening minute, a
half-cleared flag-kick fell ideally for Jess Fowell, from twenty yards, only for her chip to drift fractionally past the upright.

A rare slip by Hunkin then almost gift-wrapped a goal for Kaitlyn Elliott but, fortunately for the woman in purple, teammate Laila Malcolm was in the right place at precisely the right time to block, clear the danger and maintain the status quo.

However, controversy surrounded the deadlock breaking strike, shortly after the hour mark.

Despite appearing to be in an offside position, Weatherley took great delight in being afforded the freedom of East Parley to deftly drop a shot over the head of the unfortunately exposed Hunkin and into an unguarded net.

The protestations of both goalkeeper and captain Holly Talbut-Smith fell on deaf ears and the
visitors now found themselves trailing to a goal that they strongly believed shouldn’t have stood.

Appearing to still be in a state of shock, Elkins caused more problems for a stunned travelling team as she got the better of Tilly Jones to leave the left-back trailing in her wake, prior to flashing an inviting ball into the heart of the 18-ard box which Skipper Rosie Eden managed to get something on, although not enough to divert it towards the target.

An unusual occurrence during then had most of those in attendance looking up the Laws of the Game, courtesy of an indirect free-kick being awarded upon the cry of “leave it” by host goalie Vallis.

Regrettably, the mystery wasn’t solved by way of an equaliser emanating from the subsequent dealball delivery and the Wasps’ next attack carried a real sting in the tail.

An almighty goalmouth scramble proved to be Worthing’s undoing, with the eventual outcome ending in a panicked clearance rebounding in off Freya Rolfe, to put what appeared to be the final nail in the Sussex side’s coffin.

The strugglers’ hopes were lifted though thanks to Malcolm capitalising on an identical period of pressure to bundle in on the goalline, five minutes from time, to reduce the deficit.

Sadly, however, Bournemouth Sports were able to see out the rest of the game to seal the double over their opponents, who are now locked in a four way tussle at the foot of the standings.