The home side were on the front foot early, with Kaur’s lofted ball finding Coulter, whose cross deflected dangerously off a defender and almost crept in but the keeper held on after just five minutes.

Moments later, Tedman tried her luck from a free kick, bending the ball just wide bast the far post.

Sirens continued to create chances, Ball cutting in off the left in the 19th minute after smartly beating the defender, only to see her effort deflected for a corner.

Coulter’s clever turn and strike went into the side netting on 38 minutes.

The breakthrough came shortly after. On 40 minutes, Ball pounced on a defensive mistake and calmly slotted home to give the Sirens a deserved 1–0 lead.

However, Reading struck back just before half-time, equalising from a corner which sent the teams in level.

The visitors grew stronger after the restart as they rattled the bar on 53 minutes following smart interplay around the box, and on the hour mark a well-struck free kick put them 2–1 ahead.

Sirens almost hit back instantly, Lynn’s inventive flick bouncing off the bar just a minute later, but Reading’s pressure told late on.

With five minutes remaining, Mear brought down a Reading forward inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot.

The penalty was dispatched into the bottom-left corner, sealing a 3–1 win for the visitors.

It was a frustrating afternoon for the Sirens, who suffered their first defeat of the season