Albion Women suffered their first defeat in four games at the hands of promotion chasing Burnley on Sunday.
The Baggies had their opportunities to claim a commendable FA WNL Northern Premier Division result, but were ultimately downed by three visiting strikes.
Albion are next in action on Sunday, March 23, where they travel to Molineux to do battle with Black Country rivals Wolves.
Manager Siobhan Hodgetts-Still made just the one change to the side that beat Rugby Borough last weekend. Ali Miller sustained an injury in the warm-up and was replaced by Marli Rhodes, while new signing Naomi Sharp earned a place on the bench.
Albion had to ride an early wave of Burnley pressure, which was best represented by Fran Orthodoxou’s goal-line clearance. She tracked Louanne Worsey’s shot well enough to save the Baggies from an early deficit.
Maddie Oliver looked to turn the screw with a searching pass toward Simran Jhamat, but Olivia Wilkes halted her run as she broke into the penalty area.
Rhianne Oakley was next to test her fortune, she flicked around Jade Richards before making her way towards the Clarets goal, only to see her shot stamped out.
The visitors came out with plenty of attacking vigour in the second period, and got their reward early on when Naomi Hartley met a corner and headed past Anna Miller.
Albion came close to an equaliser - Oakley again troubling the Clarets defence - however her teasing ball evaded three stretching bodies. Jhamat also had a huge opportunity to level the scoring, yet fired over from point-blank range.
High-flying Burnley then notched two efforts in additional time, as Aimee Kelly and Brenna McPartlan added additional shine to their tally.
Albion: Miller; Reynolds, Green (Brown 76’), Oliver, Haughey (George 76’); Evans, Orthodoxou; Rhodes (Mahmood 76’), Jhamat (Janny 76’), Rabjohn; Oakley.
Substitutes: Johnson, Sharp.
