For much of the first half, it was business as usual for Chelsea. A dominant opening period saw Maika Hamano open the scoring with a drilled shot that completed a fine move, and five minutes later Aggie Beever-Jones finished well from a central position.

Yet West Ham, beaten just once in their previous four matches, rallied, responded, and registered an equaliser against the run of play shortly before half time; Shekiera Martinez on target as she fired home emphatically from 12 yards.

In the second period, we battled hard to control the contest, and it appeared the Blues had done enough. But in the first minute of added time, a deep cross from the right found Martinez unmarked and she headed back across goal to earn a point for the visitors.

A dominant start

After four games against Manchester City in the space of 12 days, Bompastor rotated her starting XI, with seven changes made to the team that began Thursday's match at Stamford Bridge.

Lucy Bronze, Sandy Baltimore, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Keira Walsh, Wieke Kaptein, Lauren James and Mayra Ramirez stepped out of the side, and in came Niamh Charles, Ashley Lawrence, Oriane Jean-Francois, Sjoeke Nusken, Beever-Jones, Hamano, and Catarina Macario to replace them.

The Blues started strongly, winning two corners within the opening minute, and our first real chance came after just five when Erin Cuthbert whipped the ball into the box and Beever-Jones hit her shot just wide of the right-hand post.

Cuthbert soon began to dictate play from midfield as we pushed for the opener, and a long ball into the box caused West Ham problems before Nusken pulled a shot just wide.

The Blues appealed for a penalty after 12 minutes as a cross from Lawrence on the right was blocked by West Ham's striker Viviane Asseyi inside the box. Referee Abigail Byrne was unmoved, however, and play continued.

It mattered little as our opening goal came soon after. A skilful turn and cross on the left from Macario was headed down by Lawrence for Hamano, and she powered her shot beyond West Ham goalkeeper Kinga Szemik. The Blues were ahead.

Five minutes went by before the rotated Chelsea attack doubled our advantage. Beever-Jones popped up with her eighth league goal of the season with a shot from close range after Macario had managed to smuggle the ball through.

West Ham respond

It took almost half an hour for the visitors to have a shot on target and it came from a free-kick that was floated into the box. The ball was met by Shelina Zadorsky, but her header was saved by Blues goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.

At the other end, Macario was terrorising the Hammers' backline with the ball at her feet, and she had her effort blocked by Zadorsky.

Following her last-minute winner against Man City last weekend, Cuthbert came close to netting in back-to-back league games as she hit a wicked attempt off the crossbar ten minutes before the break. The Scotland international was unlucky not to have made it three.

There was plenty of fight left in West Ham, however, and Rehanne Skinner's side pulled a goal back with a rare attack just before the break. Martinez chested down a pass from Riko Ueki and slammed home a volley beyond Hampton.

Switching it up

Bompastor made a double switch at half-time, replacing captain Millie Bright with Bronze while Kaptein was introduced for Cuthbert.

All-out attack was changed to cautious control from the Blues, and the pace of attacking play dropped off a little. But Nusken went close again and Macario blasted a free-kick which she had won into the wall.

James, introduced with 25 minutes to play, then had a sight of goal as she broke free in the box, but the England international shot straight at Szemik.

The England international then produced a trademark moment of magic as she danced her way free down the left and chipped a dangerous shot toward goal. Unfortunately, it narrowly cleared the crossbar.

As the minutes ticked by, West Ham pushed to find the equaliser, but when the fourth official indicated that there would be four minutes of additional time, it appeared as though they had run out of time.

They hadn't. A deep cross to the back post wasn't dealt with by the Blues, and Martinez was on hand to head beyond Hampton and send Bompastor's side into the international break off the back of a frustrating draw.

What it means...

We remain top of the Women's Super League, with a six-point lead over second-placed Arsenal with 18 matches played.

What comes next

Several of our Blues will head off in the coming hours to represent their respective international teams. We return to action on Saturday 12 April with a FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Kingsmeadow.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton; Lawrence, Bjorn, Bright (c) (Bronze 45), Charles; Jean-Francois; Cuthbert (Kaptein 45), Nusken (Walsh 80); Beever-Jones (James 66), Hamano (Fishel 66); Macario
Chelsea substitutes: Spencer, Rytting Kaneryd, Baltimore
Scorers: Hamano 16, Beever-Jones 21
Booked: Lawrence

West Ham: Szemik, Denton (Smith 45), Zadorsky (Pavi 72), Tysiak, Mengwen (Nystrom 72), Hanshaw, Siren, Gorry (c) (Brynjarsdottir 35), Martinez, Asseyi, Ueki (Piubel 72)
West Ham Substitutes: M.Walsh, Saez, Harries, Ademiluyi
Scorers: Martinez 42, 90+1
Booked: Tysiak

Referee: Abigail Byrne