Crystal Palace Ladies FC

On a pleasant Afternoon at Hillside in Orpington the U13 Reds played a rejuvenated Fleet side who had come so close to beating Afc Wimbledon the week before.

The Hillside pitch again was in superb condition allowing for both teams to play their games and with the Fleet side in confident mood the Eagles had to be on their game but again started slowly allowing their opponents to put early pressure on the Palace defence.With a familiar looking back line of Rebekah in Goal with Emily, Lucy and Hannah W any Fleet attack was dealt with sufficiently but the Reds were still in first gear.

At the other end the Fleet defence were dealing with the palace attack well but you could sense the Eagles were slowly going up the gears and as the half wore on more and more pressure was being put on the resilient Fleet defence.With 20mins gone Palace made their first substitutions with Elle coming into the middle for Elizabeth and Hannah M going out on the right for Mia L.

Within minutes a great run by Hannah M resulted in a superb cross which was met by Elle who's header crashed against the Fleet left hand post.Attack after attack now followed with no joy thanks to some wayward finishing and superb defending by the Fleet back line with their Gk having a great game.The half time whistle went with the score at 0-0.

After a stern talking to at half time the palace girls were instructed to now go out and play the attractive passing game which had served them so well this season.They started putting together a lot more passing moves using the wings well and you sensed the breakthrough wasn't far away.

Another penetrating run by Hannah M ending with a great low cross into the Fleet box with Elle again getting on the end of it but this time burying it into the back of the Fleet net.Finally Palace had got the goal their endeavours deserved and this was quickly followed by number 2 with Rebecca adding another goal to her impressive seasons goal tally.

It was now becoming completely one way traffic with Hannah M and Maya flying down the wings causing all sorts of trouble.The Fleet post and crossbar were struck 4 times and there were goal line clearances and at one stage a superb double save by the Fleet GK stopping Palace from running away with the game.

Another surging Run from the all action Elizabeth somehow resulted in her somehow scuffing her shot with the Goal gaping and a grateful keeper diving on the ball. She wasn't to be deprived though and finally got her goal with a close range shot into the Roof of the Fleet goal to make the score 3-0.

A great working performance from Maya out on the left was nearly rewarded with the ball breaking out to her on the left side of the Fleet box but with the Gk stranded out on the right she could only find the side netting and minutes later Mia L looked ready to score only to be deprived by a great double save from the Fleet keeper.

With the Palace defence now redundant at the back Rick Pushed Lucy forward into midfield and encouraged the wing backs to get forward at every opportunity with Left back Hannah W having a superb game.With the full time whistle blowing the scoreline had somehow stayed at 3-0.

Whilst the Eagles never really got into top gear from the start a lot of praise must go to our opponents Fleet today for a fully committed performance under a lot of pressure and special mention to their Gk who pulled off save after save to stop a much bigger score line.

The Eagles continue their impressive season but again were guilty of starting to slowly before finally taking control and finishing strongly.

Final Score 3 v 0

Scorers : Elle
Rebecca
Elizabeth