Norwich City Women boss Andy Cook is striving for his team to be even stronger defensively after a last-gasp London Bees equaliser saw them slip off the top of the table.

The Canaries were the early pacesetters in the Women's National League Division One South East, winning their opening four matches, but have drawn all of their games since.

On an eventful afternoon at The Hive, City looked set to return to winning ways in the league thanks to a hat-trick from Shannon Shaw, before Hayley Hoare struck in the dying moments to earn the hosts a point.

While their defensive record at home has been excellent, City have conceded in all but one of their five away outings so far, and have lost ground in the promotion race as a result.

Issy Moore closes down a Bees opponentIssy Moore closes down a Bees opponent (Image: R.S.BROWN)
Looking ahead, Cook said: "Ultimately we've just got to play our games and make sure that we're trying to pick up the points as we were. It's still a long old season.

"If they'd won the game, Bees wouldn't have been far off the top with the way the fixtures work out. Some teams have played more, some have played less, and it's just the way it works out in this league.

"We've just got to make sure that we're steady away, we're nice and consistent. The players will be aware that they lost one game last season and had seven draws, but it doesn't change anything. Those are just the facts.

"You've got to defend your box like your life depends on it, and the teams that go on to win leagues do that. The more consistent you are with that, it's harder to play against.

Olivia Cook gives chaseOlivia Cook gives chase (Image: R.S.BROWN)

"The Bees today found a way through a few times, and that's something that we want to stop. We've done it in previous games, it was just the (first) 45 minutes there where we weren't at the races."

Shaw netted the game's opening goal only 10 minutes into the first half, though City failed to make the most of their early advantage and deservedly found themselves behind at the interval.

Head coach Cook commented: "There's been several studies in different sports on how you control momentum in games and it's sometimes difficult to do, especially the way that Bees had set up.

"They played a very fluid 4-4-2. They put the full-backs and the wingers high and wide, and Tommo (Lauren Tomlinson) and Millie (Daviss) struggled with their positioning and where we needed them to be. As did the front three.

"(There were) just a few little bits that we rectified at half-time as you saw from the second half performance.

"When you're working with players at this level, they've been at work all week, they come into training and there's only 120 minutes, if it's a perfect two nights of work, that we can do before we're playing. So it's difficult to get all the information in all the time.

"I think they did brilliantly for what they did and how they worked. The second half performance was exactly what we were after."

The second period was particularly significant for Shaw, who has scored five goals across City's last two matches.

Discussing her bright start to the campaign, she said: "The way Andy plays, he has brought a lot out of me as a player in terms of positioning, and how he wants to play does suit me.

"I think it's just going well at the moment, for the team, for myself, so I put that down to good coaching and good teammates around me."

Two of Shaw's three efforts were remarkably similar, with Lauren Tomlinson providing the crosses and City's in-form striker steering them in with her head.

"Tommo did fantastically down the left wing," Shaw stated. "She's got a cracking left foot so you know when she's got it, she's going to deliver a good ball. It's just a matter of getting on the end of it.

"I absolutely love playing with Tommo. We've got a good connection and it really clicked for us today."

Norwich City (3-4-3): Quantrill (c); Flye, Medd-Gill, Strauss; Daviss (Cook 76), Booty (Knights 65), Moore (Bishop 76), Tomlinson; Shaw, Snelling, Densley (Kennard 65). Unused sub: Todd.