Needham Market have suffered back-to-back defeats as they were beaten 3-1 by Relegation threatened St Albans at Bloomfields.
After losing to Barking last week this was a chance to bounce back with the county cup semi final looming but they found themselves 2-1 down at half time thanks to Keira Ward and Erin Pope.
Mia Etheridge-Golding had equalised for Needham, but it was the only positive for the home side as Terri Harvey added a late third to seal a massive victory for the visitors.
St Albans made a quick start as Ward found space on the right and her cross come shoot from a narrow angle found its way underneath Evie McKane in goal and nestled in the far side netting.
After that Needham settled and looked to get into the game with chances first for Leilah Gooding before hitting the crossbar.
And only a minute after that Etheridge-Golding deservedly levelled as she poached home a rebound after Lottie Barker saw her shot across goal parried out.
From there it looked like Needham would turn the game around but found themselves behind again thanks to a carbon copy of the equaliser with this time Pope capitalising on a parry from McKane.
St Albans could have extended the lead further when they hit the post after a mix up but somehow missed the open net before McKane made a smart save to keep it to a one goal lead in the first half.
In the second period there was very little to shout about for the home side with the away side hitting the woodwork again.
McKane was put under pressure when clearing and the St Albans attacker got the block and knocked the ball towards goal and miraculously saw it clip the near post and then role across the line to hit the other post and out.
The game was won late on as Harvey lofted a shot over Laura Bloomfield, who deputised in goal for the injured McKane.
It was certainly not ideal preparation for next week’s massive county cup semi against old foes AFC Sudbury.