Barnet Ladies suffered a 1-0 defeat against Watford Ladies in the Women's Premier league

The Hornets started the contest on the attack and Sarah Wiltshire forced Megan Wordington into an early routine stop. The visitors continued to threaten and a Wiltshire free-kick struck the post before she fired wide soon after.

The Bees had shown little as an attacking force for the majority of the opening half but they did come close to breaking the deadlock ten minutes before the interval.

Good build-up play between Leane Reidy and Laura Miller found Renate Innis but she was quickly crowded out by the Watford defence.

Just before the break, Katie Natkiel had a shot well blocked by Sally Wade and the rebound was sent wide up Wiltshire. The two sides went into half-time level and Barnet would have hoped to make the most of kicking down the Underhill slope.

However, it was the Hornets who continued to create the better chances and Natkiel and Wiltshire combined before Josie Green fired just past the post.

Barnet threatened sporadically and a Helen King strike from distance was comfortably dealt with by Lauren Davey.

Watford looked the more likely to open the scoring and they did make the breakthrough on the hour mark.

Wiltshire whipped a corner into the box and Chloe Gunn rose well to head past Wordington.

The Hornets came close to doubling their advantage five minutes later when Fliss Gibbons saw her initial shot parried by Wordington but Gibbons hit the rebound straight past the post.

Despite their lead, Watford continued to create the better opportunities and Wilson was denied by a good stop from Wordington before Emma Beckett shot over the bar from distance.

Barnet pushed players forward in search of a late equaliser and a Leanne Reidy free-kick forced Davey into action as she pushed the ball clear.

The resulting corner was cleared by the Hornets to leave Barnet still searching for their first win of the campaign.