Durham Women suffered defeat at the hands of Sheffield United in their latest Barclays Women’s Super League 2 outing.
Bayley Hutchison’s stunner from range had drawn the Blues level after Amy Andrews’ opener – but the Blades striker completed her hat-trick in the second half, with Lucy Quinn’s strike also adding to the scoreline.
Willie Kirk named an unchanged side from the game with Nottingham Forest and Durham started brightly.
So it was against the run of play when Andrews prodded home on the line after a deep cross to open the scoring.
Charlie Devlin then hit the post for the hosts before Cat Sheppard superbly denied Ella Kinzett, but Durham reacted well and started to impose themselves on the game.
Hutchison saw a looped effort cleared by Jess Reavill before Jade Pennock’s volley from a corner was deflected wide.
And the Blues netted a deserved leveller when Hutchison curled home from 30 yards.
The visitors ended the first half in the ascendancy, with Olivia Fergusson narrowly unable to convert Pennock’s cross, but it was the Blades who started strongly after the interval – Quinn netting from close range to restore their lead before Andrews added her second from the spot.
The forward completed her hat-trick after latching onto a long ball – and despite late Durham pressure, there was no route back into the game.