Everton Ladies suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Durham as they kicked off their 2018-19 campaign on Sunday.
Travelling to the Women’s Championship side’s New Ferens Park for this Continental Cup group stage tie, the Toffees fell behind to Zoe Ness’s strike in the first half.
Dan Turner almost struck an immediate reply but she could only prod a loose ball against the post.
Inessa Kaagman – making her Everton debut after her summer arrival from Ajax – set about restoring parity but she saw efforts fly off target as the Toffees went in at half time behind.