Lions sink Saints to clinch first leg of trophy double

Saints were forced to soak up early pressure, but looked dangerous on the break thanks to the pace of Laura Condon.

However, Leamington broke the deadlock in the third minute of first-half injury-time when Stacey Doughty fired the ball through a crowd of players after Southam had failed to clear a corner.

After the break, Southam changed to a more attacking formation and began to apply more pressure. With play stretched, Lions became dangerous on the counter-attack and only good goalkeeping from Mia Graham prevented the league leaders doubling their lead.

However, an error by Graham allowed Lions to make it 2-0 in the 75th minute when she failed to deal with a speculative long-range shot from Doughty.

Southam halved the deficit with four minutes remaining when Lauren Case headed home a Bex Clarke corner.

Leamington return to league action on Sunday when they entertain Rugby Town needing a win to secure the title.