Birmingham City Women: Promotion permutations as Magill reflects on 'different' win

Birmingham City Women are locked in a battle to win the Championship title with two games to play

Birmingham City Women kept their dreams of a return to the Super League alive last weekend with a comeback victory over Durham at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.

Blues are locked in a two-horse title race with London City Lionesses that is set to go to a final day shoot-out between the two teams.

London City hammered Southampton 4-1 on Friday but Blues cut the gap to just two points again with their 3-1 win over Durham.

Amy Merricks’ Blues travel to Newcastle United this weekend, while it’s London City’s turn to host Durham. A Blues victory would ensure the title race goes to the final day, where Blues take on London City at St Andrew’s.

Simone Magill bagged a brace against Durham before Australia international Emily van Egmond sealed the win late on.

On Magill’s latest star showing, Blues boss Merricks said: “She runs herself into the ground every single week on and off the ball. She’s an incredibly hard working player and an excellent professional, that’s why she’s here.”

Magill: One last push

The mood in the Blues Women camp has peaked after their victory over Durham, says star striker Simone Magill.

“Everyone has been saying since the game finished on Sunday, it felt like a massive moment, the win felt different,” Magill told Blues’ website.

“As I said before, it’s been a while since we’ve won a game from going one behind, so it helps us build momentum, confidence and keep our focus firmly on what we set out to achieve all these months ago.

“The momentum we feel, it’s still there now having come back to training, but we know it’s another tough game coming on Sunday.

“It’s always been spoken about in the group about taking one game at a time. It’s very easy to get fixated on the end goal, we know what we want, what we’re going for, and Sunday showed the belief we have.

“Ultimately, it is what has got us over the line against Durham, and many times this season. We keep going, doing what we’re good at and finding a way to win. I think as well from a performance perspective, it was long overdue, and again another good time to find that level in us going into the next fortnight.

“We’ve put ourselves in a really good position to achieve something really big in our careers, the club’s history and to make the fans proud. We heard them all the way through the game on the weekend, and we hope to deliver something on that final day which can be a fantastic occasion for them.

“Hopefully from what they’ve seen of us this season, we will really want to come back and support us one last time this season, and we can all celebrate what will hopefully be a huge moment for us all.”

Promotion permutations

Blues are two points behind London City going into the final two games, with a slightly worse goal difference.

Two victories would see Blues promoted, but they don’t have to win both of their games if London City fail to beat Durham this weekend.

There is even a scenario where Blues can lose this weekend and win the title. For that to happen, London City would have to draw or lose to Durham. In that scenario, if London drew with Durham, Blues would have to beat them heavily on the final day to overturn the goal difference deficit.

That is why it’s of paramount importance that Blues win this weekend, so that a victory on the final day guarantees promotion without the need to worry about goal difference.