A fine strike from Brooke Chaplen in the first half was enough to give the Royals all three points in the Women's Super League, while the Reds had to play the majority of the second half with 10 players following the sending-off of Rhiannon Roberts.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives for caretaker manager Chris Kirkland and Vicky Jepson to take from the game as their team showed great character and kept battling right until the end.
Going into the clash, the Reds were dealt a blow when goalkeeper Anke Preuss picked up an injury in training, which meant a debut for Fran Kitching.