The first game back in the National League South for Watford Women ended in a defeat as they saw a 1-0 lead turn into a 3-1 defeat away at Hashtag United.

New head coach Renee Hector had made seven new signings ahead of the trip to Essex, and two of them - Jessie Gale and Anna Filbey – made their debuts, with the women also being the first of the club’s teams to wear the new purple third kit.

It was the Golden Girls who enjoyed the majority of the ball in the early stages and they scored with the game’s first clear-cut chance in the ninth minute.

A quick break saw Coral Haines play a clever pass over the Hashtag backline for Ellie Head to strike a first-time shot into the bottom corner for her first goal in more than a year.

However the home side were level in the 26th minute as Courtney Lumley’s free-kick was deflected into the path of Holly Turner, and she drove a low shot past Jacqui Goldsmid.

Gale caused plenty of problems down the left flank and came close to fashioning opportunities to restore Watford’s lead.

The dual-sign Arsenal youngster immediately won back the ball inside the opposition box and flashed an effort wide, also setting up Head before the forward was fouled.

Poppy Wilson was brought down on the edge of the area early in the second half with advantage played, as Gale forced a strong save.

A quick break followed from Georgia Griffin in the Hashtag attack, but her effort was excellently saved by Goldsmid.

However from the resultant corner in the 57th minute Griffin sent the ball over and Grace Gillard got across her marker to turn it in from close range to put the hosts 2-1 up.

With 19 minutes to go, h#Hashtag secured the points.

Goalkeeper Frankie Angel’s pass was helped on by Sammy Rowland, allowing Freda Ayisi to round a defender and keeper Goldsmid before stroking the ball home.

“It was frustrating,” said Hector.

“There’s no doubt about the ability and with how we set up, we put ourselves in a good position to win the game.

"We got off to a great start and scored the first goal, were unfortunate to let their equaliser in but I felt at half-time the game was there for the taking and we would create more chances.

“To concede from two set-pieces and one long ball is really tough to take because it’s not like they’ve opened us up, it was a case of individual error. These are things we can and have worked on but it’s something we need to get better at if we want to win football matches.

“We’re still learning, it’s a process, but at the end of the day it’s just one game and it’s a long season. We’ll be looking to put it right next week.”

Watford: Goldsmid; Meiwald, McLean, Chandler, Filbey, Georgiou, Wilson (Rossiter 58), Haines, Head (Davison 69), Fyfe (Hind 69), Gale. Subs not used: O’Sullivan, Bishop