"We're delighted (with the three points)," said the Newcastle boss following the hard-fought victory, which moved the Lady Magpies level with Barnsley Women at the top of the FA Women's National League Division One North.

"It was important to keep a clean sheet and the girls performed really well. Norton were tough to break down, but we needed to be patient. Ellie Dobson did really well to break the deadlock from a very good corner by Georgia (Gibson)."

The win at Norton was Newcastle Women's second consecutive positive result, following last week's 9-1 demolition of Lincoln in the FAWNL League Cup, and Langley explained how important it was to continue the momentum going into a busy period.

"It's good (to get consecutive wins)," she said. "We are delighted because it gives us that confidence to kick on now.

"We kept a clean sheet, and we scored nine goals the week before, so the confidence in our camp is really improving. With the addition of Charlotte Potts, that's really given the players confidence having that experience in the back-four."

She added: "I was really impressed with our resilience. The one-versus-one defending from Charlotte and Freya (Bailes) was absolutely brilliant, and Norton have got a threat. It was really pleasing to see that we kept them off the scoresheet."

Despite the important result, Langley is not allowing her side to get ahead of themselves and is urging them to take "one game at a time."

"It's just about the process," she explained. "It's about taking one game at a time and making sure we get the three points that we need.

"This season has been a learning curve already, with the number of injuries we've had to deal with, but the girls have stepped up really well and it's pleasing to see us joint-top.

"We want to keep that consistency and make sure that we are pushing towards the top of the league for the rest of the season."

Photograph courtesy of Colin Lock/@Tyneside_NUWFC