Crystal Palace 1 Blackburn Rovers 0 - Molly Sharpe first half strike sees Palace to all three points at Hayes Lane

Barclays Women's Championship, Sunday 26th March

The final Sunday in March saw me over at Hayes Lane, Bromley, for a Barclays Women’s Championship contest and saw a first half goal from Molly Sharpe help Crystal Palace to a hard-fought win over Blackburn Rovers.

Palace came into this contest smack bang in mid table in sixth spot having picked up twenty-four points in their seventeen league outings, whereas their opponents Blackburn were eight points worse off down in tenth, third bottom in other words, having only won three league games all season, but they did have a ten-point buffer to bottom side Coventry United so relegation should not be an issue.

In fact, neither Palace, who were miles behind top spot, and Blackburn, who were miles ahead of bottom spot, had much to play for really, both sides had five and six games left respectively so it was really all about how well could each side end the season and head into the summer break with some positiveness to head into the following season at the same level.

Palace had the much better form over the last five games, three wins and two losses, as opposed to Blackburn who hadn’t won in their last five (and as you will see in next paragraph, they haven’t won for some time) and had only taken two points from a possible fifteen in that period, so form certainly suggested that Palace would prevail in this contest, but would they?

When the two met back in September at The Sir Tom Finney Stadium, Palace netted a 3-1 success thanks to a Hughes hat-trick, so would history repeat itself, or would Blackburn net a first win since November 6^th when they beat Sunderland 1-0 at home, Palace had come into this contest having lost to Birmingham City at St Andrews in midweek, whereas Rovers were actually unbeaten in two coming into this, as those two points picked up in those last five were their last two contests.

So, you could read form in two ways, but enough about that, let’s see what actually happened in the contest.

This game was part of ‘Women’s Football Weekend 2023’ and as part of that the hosts had handed out 1,000 tickets for this game to try and get a bumper crowd in to support the Ladies, and despite the miserable weather around 1,700 turned up to cheer on the home side, and the first half saw them see their side have most of the ball but only really tested visiting keeper Alex Brooks seriously on one occasion, the visitors had fleeting attacks themselves but spent most of the half defending against the hosts, but they remained solid enough.

That was until three minutes before half time when Palace finally managed to break through that tough Rovers back line as good work down the right from Hollie Olding saw her cross find an unmarked Sharpe who smashed home a brilliant effort past Brooks and saw Palace go into the break a goal to the good.

Could Palace press home their advantage after the break? Well, as it turned out it was Rovers who took the game to their opponents in the early exchanges of the second period and looked far more threatening as a result, and Palace had to really dig deep to keep their opponents out who probably should have levelled in that period of pressure they had on the hosts goal, one such moment saw an effort just about tipped wide by hosts keeper Fran Kitching who almost let it slip underneath her grasp, although the resulting award of a goal kick did surprise most.

Palace though after weathering that initial burst from Blackburn begin to threaten again and chances to seal the deal and double their lead on more than one occasion, Brooks made a terrific double save on one such occasion, first saving an effort from Rianna Dean before Paige Bailey-Gayle’s follow up was also stopped superbly by the Rovers Number One, meaning the game remained in the balance.

Could Rovers pinch a point and make it three draws in a row? They so nearly did in the 88^th minute when Lauren Thomas found herself driving into the box to try and get on the end of a pass, hosts keeper Kitching rushed out to try and block any effort, and saw the ball come off her and onto Thomas right leg before flying inches wide of the post, you kind of felt at that moment it wasn’t going to be the visitors day and Palace would hold on.

And that is how it turned out after five or so additional minutes, meaning the home side get back to winning ways and the visitors fall to another loss, Palace definitely were the better side in the first period but they were made to work very hard by a much improved Rovers in the second half and could have easily got something from the game in the end, a very enjoyable battle though in terrible conditions at times, and most of the fans left for home happy indeed.

Also what a fine venue Hayes Lane is, the stand behind the goal is fantastic as is the views from the main stand where I plonked myself, also the Broomfields Bar is a delightful place to go and chill out before and after the game, and seeing the kids having photos taken with the players afterwards as well as getting autographs with big smiles on their faces is really what it is all about, it was wonderful to see!!!

Full time Crystal Palace 1 Blackburn Rovers 0

 

Let’s see what else went on in the Barclays Women’s Championship on Sunday:-

Sheffield United 2 Lewes 3 (A Mason brace helped Lewes to an entertaining win at Bramall Lane, Sweetman Kirk gave The Blades the lead just past the midpoint of the first half but Barton levelled just past the half hour before Mason gave the visitors the lead two minutes after the break. Hartley levelled the game up in the 53^rd minute but Mason netted what proved to be the winner just past the hour mark)

Durham 3 London City Lionesses 0 (Durham stunned title/promotion chasing Lionesses with a thumping win at Maiden Castle Sports Park, Hardy gave the hosts a 20^th minute lead before Hepple doubled that advantage eight minutes later, and the scoring was completed two minutes before half time when Robson made it three)

Charlton Athletic 2 Sunderland 2 (McCatty netted a 93^rd minute equaliser to salvage a point for visitors Sunderland at The Oakwood, after a goalless opening forty-five minutes the visitors took the lead through Brown’s goal in the 62^nd minute, however a quickfire double from Johnson looked to have given Charlton all three points until McCatty’s late late leveller)

Southampton FC 0 Bristol City 1 (League leaders Bristol City saw an 18^th minute goal from Morgan enough for them to take all the spoils against Southampton FC at St Mary’s)

Coventry United 0 Birmingham City 1 (Birmingham City netted all three points at bottom side Coventry United after Harris scored mid-way through the first period at Butts Park Arena)

 

Let’s see how those results affect the Championship table:-

It's one up and one down in the Championship, and Bristol City took a giant step towards the title and promotion to the WSL after they won and London City Lionesses lost, the latter’s shocker of a defeat at Durham means they now trail the former by six points with only four games remaining, so definitely advantage Bristol City now.  

Down at the bottom and only a miracle will keep Coventry United up, in fact their relegation to the Third Tier will be sealed if they lose their next game at Lewes next weekend, and even if they did the unthinkable and won their remaining four games, it still probably won’t be enough, so sadly for Coventry United relegation is pretty much nailed on.

Anyway that’s all for now, thanks for taking the time to read my blog, it is very much appreciated!!!