SAINTS Women’s boss Marieanne Spacey-Cale hailed the “strong mentality” of her squad as they took a point from their clash with Championship leaders London City Lionesses.

Neither side could find the breakthrough in a tense first half at Princes Park, with both goalkeepers regularly tested.

Substitute Sarah Ewens broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute for the Lionesses before Paige Peake converted a last-minute penalty to give Saints a crucial point in a 1-1 draw.

It left them fourth in the second tier, with 19 points accumulated from their first 10 league fixtures.

Saints’ only defeat came against Charlton Athletic in their first game of the season at St Mary’s.

Reacting to the draw against the Lionesses, Spacey-Cale said: “The first half we stayed in the game, they had a lot of chances and it was a defensive masterclass in terms of getting bodies on the line and stopping them from scoring.

“In the second, we started to play in a slightly different way and had more of a chance with the ball.

“It was disappointing to go a goal down but on the balance of play it was probably deserved, although you never want to go a goal down.

“The reaction from the girls was spot on, they are a group of people that never feel like they’re beaten. They will always step up for each other and it’s come through again.

“It's a whole squad effort, the staff and players. It’s a strong mentality to try and showcase what we’re about, when the game got tougher everyone pulled together.

“The mentality means it’s going to take a really good team to break us and at the moment we’re holding on – we rode our luck in the first-half. We really believe in what we’re trying to achieve here and everyone is facing in the same direction.”

Saints now have a break from league action until the new year. The St Mary’s side visit Bristol City in the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday (3pm), before a Continental Cup home clash with Tottenham on Sunday, December 18 (noon).

“We spoke about that before the game, this is our last big game before Christmas and we could be in a really fantastic position – one we probably didn’t believe we would be,” added Spacey-Cale.

“If we got points, whether it was one or three, we knew we’d finish this part of the season in a strong place, that’s why I’m really pleased with the performance where we were hard to beat in the first-half and then in the second-half we knew the momentum would switch at some point.

“It might only have been a short spell, but we capitalised on it.

“That’s what the best teams do and that’s what this group does, be strong and hard to beat and capitalise in the right moment.”