THERE would have been a few in the Saints group bemoaning Beth Lumsden’s presence on the pitch when she scored from the spot for her former side just five months ago.

It was unusual for Marieanne Spacey-Cale’s side to not get the better of their opposition last campaign, but twice they drew with eventual second-place finishers Oxford United.

Saints, securing top by nine points, went on to nail promotion out of the National League and to the Championship and a familiar yet distant face came with them.

Those very same Saints players will have felt differently when Lumsden swept in at Ashton Gate on Sunday, scoring her first for her new team in a 1-1 draw with the league leaders.

After a summer move to Staplewood Campus, Lumsden repaid the faith given to her in becoming a full-time professional football and levelled at promotion-hunting Bristol City.

“I’m loving it,” Lumsden told the Daily Echo, speaking on the pristine south-west turf after going three unbeaten in the second division.

“It’s obviously a big adjustment moving away from home but I am loving it and there is no better place to be to learn than Southampton. The facilities are fantastic so I’m really excited to be here.

“The results shows that we are here to compete, we’re not here to make up numbers. We’re building every week and we’re just looking to get as many points as we can.”

She added: “We knew it was a tough game, they haven’t lost a game yet. But we had the confidence from last week when we beat (Crystal) Palace so we came here trusting the process and got a result. We wanted to win, but we are happy with a draw for now.”

It was the second week in a row Saints had visited the main stadium of the Championship leaders, winning 2-1 at Selhurst Park thanks to a Lexi Lloyd-Smith brace.

Saints looked down and out, against a former WSL team that will settle for little else but promotion back to that elite level this campaign, when the sides went in at half-time.

“We knew the first-half wasn’t good enough,” Lumsden admitted. “But we went into the changing room knowing we needed to trust the process.

“We trust the training we’ve done this week and last week and that’s what we did in the second-half, and last week as well.”

Ella Morris – after scoring the winner versus City in an historic FA Cup meeting at St Mary’s last season – made more good memories as she fired perfectly across the box for Lumsden to score.

Another summer arrival in the attack, Katie Wilkinson, still searches for her first goal for the club – a two-time top goalscorer and player of the year in the Championship.

“She brings massive experience to the team,” Lumsden said, of her strike partner for the clash at Ashton Gate.

“She’s been in the Championship for years now so she’s a fantastic asset for this team. Hopefully she can get her first goal soon, I’m sure she will.”

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