OXFORD United suffered their first defeat of the season as hosts Watford came back from a goal down to win 2-1.

U’s manager Liam Gilbert made two changes to the side that beat Gillingham on the opening day of the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division campaign.

Georgia Brown was handed her first start and Molly Peters also came in, with Lily Stevens and Abbie Bensted dropping out.

United had begun the campaign in the best possible fashion at Gillingham and continued where they left off as they took a fifth-minute lead through Peters.

Watford did not let the setback affect them, though, and captain Helen Ward almost put her side on level terms immediately as she headed past the left-hand post.

Brown could have doubled the lead after a quarter of an hour, but her effort flew over the bar and United were soon made to pay.

Summer signing Sarah Wiltshire struck a 20th-minute equaliser and shortly after the half-hour mark the Hornets were in front.

Ward was put through one-on-one and this time made no mistake, slotting past Rose Kite to give the home side the advantage at the break.

Peters and Emily Allen had opportunities in an entertaining but ultimately goalless second half, which also saw Watford goalkeeper Sophie Harris receive a yellow card for handling the ball outside of her penalty area.

The home side’s stopper then thwarted United with a string of fine saves late on, with substitute Bensted coming particularly close to snatching a point.

But the visitors were unable to turn chances into goals and while Gilbert rued the missed opportunities, he was pleased with his side’s overall performance.

He said: “I’m a little bit disappointed, looking at the bigger picture I think that the girls deserved more.

“Georgia has worked hard over the last few years, she’s spent time out on loan at Cheltenham and she deserved her start.

“I thought Molly worked really hard yesterday and she led the line for us well.

“At times we played some really good football, we just need to be a little bit more clinical in front of goal.”

United have the chance to bounce back at MK Dons tomorrow night, before their first home game of the season against Crawley Wasps on Sunday.