The clash arrived as a big an opportunistic occasion for Lauren Smith’s side, a chance to catapult themselves away from the drop zone as the new season arrived. Despite not sitting in the place on the league table, it was a similar situation for the Seagulls- having had only just the dual victories in their campaign thus far.

Brighton Hove & Albion: Baggaley; Bergsvand, Thorisdóttir, Kullberg; Robinson, Symonds, Losada, Pattinson; Zigiotti-Olme, Terland, Bremer

Bristol City: Yanez; Layzell, Connolly, Mustaki; Powell, Napier, Jones, Rodgers; Thestrup, Harrison, Syme

The fixture commenced in an arm wrestle, as both sides early looked to open the afternoon’s scoring account. Their best efforts arrived to no avail, as the fixture neared the half hour mark at a 0-0 stalemate.

It would be the hosts who found themselves the shoe-in, as Elisabeth Terland etched her name onto the scoresheet for her ninth of the season. A blunder from the Robins defence saw the 22 year-old gain possession on the edge of the area before sending the ball hugging toward the near post with confident expertise.

Terland’s strike would see the home side head into the interval with a 1-0 advantage, a quiet half that only previewed the excitement to come.

Despite trailing at the break, the visitors commenced the second half with desperate motivation. The forward press by the Robins allowed for a failed clearance on behalf of the Brighton last-line, as Abi Harrison found herself able to capitalise on free time at the edge of the box. Her brilliant strike from range was only narrowly denied by the woodwork, a deflection inside the area seeing her attempt out and behind for a corner.

This time Harrison would make no mistakes, delightfully hitting home her strike from the self-made corner.

Though rapture for the travelling fans would be short-lived, as Brighton expertly worked the play up the left hand side just two minutes after the Robins found their equaliser. A line-breaking ball would find the feet of an advancing Katie Robinson, as she made no mistake in slotting home her well-weighted strike past a diving Sophie Baggaley.

Refusing to roll over, it would be the visitors who answered next in the 83rd minute of play. Capitalising on a free-kick in an opportunistic position, Morgan let her arrow fly into the heavily populated area. Despite Baggaley’s excellent aerial save, Jones made no mistake in gobbling up the rebounds as Bristol City once again found their equaliser.

Tensions were rising as the fixture ticked on over into extra time, both sides desperate to find the difference on the coast.

It would be stoppage-time heartbreak for the Robins, as failure to clear away Veatriki Sarri’s searching cross saw Terland once again with the opportunity to have her say in the fixture’s script. Making no mistake in the fixture’s dying seconds, Terland struck with determined prowess and gave Brighton Hove & Albion the 3-2 victory on home turf.