The Bees suffered a 5-0 defeat to Real Bedford in their opening pre-season fixture.
Dan McKimm’s side featured a blend of familiar faces and new arrivals as they began preparations for the 2026/27 campaign.
Both teams started brightly, moving the ball well and looking to establish an early rhythm.
It was Real Bedford who broke the deadlock after just under 10 minutes, capitalising on an early opportunity to take the lead.
Debut goalkeeper Middison Millington-Stanbury was called into action again moments later as Bedford threatened to double their advantage.
She was beaten by a chipped effort, but the crossbar came to the Bees’ rescue before they launched a counter-attack.
As the first half progressed, Millington-Stanbury produced a number of impressive saves to keep the scoreline down and give the Bees encouragement to push forward.
The hosts looked dangerous on the counter-attack but were unable to find a way through a well-organised Bedford defence.
Real Bedford eventually doubled their advantage before the interval, calmly finishing past the goalkeeper to take a commanding lead into half-time.
Half-Time: London Bees 0-2 Real Bedford
Head Coach Dan McKimm made five changes at the break, introducing fresh legs including Elizabeth Mulvaney and Sam Lanza, while also rotating several trialists.
However, it was Bedford who struck again shortly after the restart, beating substitute goalkeeper Jamie-Lee Bamford to extend their lead to 3-0.
The Bees showed more composure in possession during the second half, linking passes together more effectively and creating a number of promising attacks, but Bedford continued to defend well and remained a threat going forward.
Daisy Beard came closest to getting the Bees on the scoresheet on her debut, seeing her effort from the right strike the inside of the far post before agonisingly rolling away from goal.
Che Thomas and Sam Lanza both made several positive runs in behind the defence, creating space and asking questions of the Bedford back line, but their attacks were either halted by well-timed defending or flagged offside.
Real Bedford added two further goals during the final 20 minutes to complete a convincing 5-0 victory.
Despite the result, there were encouraging moments for the Bees throughout the match, with several new faces showing promising signs ahead of the new season.
Full-Time: London Bees 0-5 Real Bedford
The Bees are back in pre-season action on Sunday the 19th of July at The Bees Stadium for a 2pm kick off against Norwich City.
Lineup: Millington-Stanbury (Hindle-Bamford 46′), Breen, Trialist A, Trialist B (Burrows 78′), Burrows (Mulvaney 46′), Larkin (Vigo 46′), Trialist C, Vigo (Buttigieg 38′), Beard, Campbell (Thomas 46′), Bennett (Lanza 46′)