Ffion Morgan’s edge of the box wondergoal sunk Southampton at St Mary’s, as a 1-0 loss to league leaders Bristol City left them winless in four.

Morgan made the difference with a floated shot from just outside of the penalty area, lifting the ball just over Kayla Rendell’s glove to take the lead against the run of play early on in the first half.

A resilient Saints side battled back and had their chances, and despite big chances from Ella Pusey and Beth Lumsden, they were poor in the final third once again - making it four consecutive games in which they haven’t scored.

Saints concluded their hat-trick of home matches with an aggressive start - within two minutes Ella Morris drilled a low ball across the six yard box, and a sliding Lumsden came inches away from tapping it in.

But after 20 minutes, Bristol caught Saints in transition to strike first - Morgan found space on the edge of the penalty area, scooped the ball over the backline and smashed it into the underside of the crossbar, where it bounced over the goal-line and rolled into the net.

Saints fought to equalise and a golden opportunity came for Pusey in the 40th minute - she dribbled past the goalkeeper, but had no time to steady herself before shooting, and her off-balance effort went high and wide of the open goal.

Bristol caught Saints in transition right at the end of the half, and a grounded ball into the box almost turned into a Milly Mott own goal - luckily for her, Laura Rafferty was there to spare her blushes and she cleared it off the line.

The home side continued to push forward after the break - with Lumsden picking up the ball on the edge of the six yard box from a Morris cross, but Bristol’s keeper Fran Bentley somehow sprung up from the floor to deny her with her right hand.

Substitute Katie Wilkinson had a massive chance to equalise, as she controlled Morris’ through ball, dribbled around the keeper but slipped before she could thread the ball into an open goal.

Saints dictated the tempo for the rest of the game, and came agonisingly close when a corner hit the post in stoppage time, but with consistently poor passing in the final third, they fell short to a Bristol who did not deserve the win.

Saints: Rendell, Morris, Mott, Kendall, Parnell, Rafferty (Lloyd-Smith, 79), Peplow, Griffiths, Collett, Pusey (Wilkinson, 72), Lumsden

Unused subs: Howard (g/k), Freeland, Williams, Wynne, Pharoah, Ward, Corrie

Booked: Morris

Bristol City: Bentley, Pearse, Aspin (Cataldo, 58), Bruce, Morgan (Teisar, 90), Harnson, Furness, Clinton, Ward (Powell, HT), Woolley (Palmer, 58), Hayles (Syme, 65)

Unused subs: Clark (g/k), C Bull, J Bull, Wilde

Referee: Ade Soneye