Tottenham 1-1 Brighton: Bethany England equalises late for Spurs
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Bethany England was Tottenham's top scorer in the WSL last season
A late equaliser from Bethany England salvaged a point for Tottenham against Brighton in the Women's Super League.
Elisabeth Terland gave Brighton an early lead at Brisbane Road, but England responded in the 81st minute by steering home Ashleigh Neville's cross.
The Spurs captain almost made it a winning comeback when she struck the crossbar from the edge of the box.
Brighton did enough to hold on, however, picking up a hard-earned draw.
Substitute Neville had an immediate impact when her cross found England and she then stabbed an effort wide, before midfielder Grace Clinton forced Brighton goalkeeper Melina Loeck into a smart save.
Loeck, making her debut for Brighton, was kept busy throughout as she made several stops to deny England and Clinton.
Meanwhile, Norwegian striker Terland was impressive again, grabbing her 13th goal of the campaign and her seventh on the road.
A tale of two strikers as points are shared
Elisabeth Terland is the second highest goalscorer in the WSL this season
This proved to be a rather cagey contest until late on.
Sixth-placed Tottenham had the better of the chances in the opening minutes, with Charlotte Grant racing through but dragging her shot wide.
Clinton threatened shortly afterwards too, but Terland then provided the ruthless touch that she has demonstrated consistently for Brighton this season.
In the 17th minute, she met Pauline Bremer's excellent cross with a powerful header. Although goalkeeper Becky Spencer managed to push it on to the crossbar, Terland reacted to poke in the rebound from close range.
Only Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw (21) has scored more goals in total than Terland this season among WSL players, and her form has helped Brighton make progress recently in the lower reaches of the table under Mikey Harris' interim management.
Tottenham, who are gearing up for their first Women's FA Cup final appearance next month, were missing key players with Martha Thomas, Drew Spence and Celin Bizet all absent.
However, with on-loan midfielder Clinton returning after sitting out last week's draw with her parent club Manchester United, Tottenham were able to carve out chances and a flurry came at the end.
Once England had equalised, Spurs built momentum and will feel frustrated they could not find another goal to snatch all three points late on.
