Crystal Palace Ladies FC

With a early kick off being given to the Palace girls the squad took the long journey down to Hampshire to play Fleet for the 3rd time this season having beaten them twice already.On arrival it was evident that the small pitch was going to make this a more competitive encounter between these 2 sides.

With the eagles having to re shape the defence for the 3rd match in a row Elizabeth was again asked to fill in at right back and Nathalia started in the middle of midfield with Elle.From the first whistle Fleet were playing a physical game pressing hard and with the Ref happy to let this go this was to be the pattern for the match.The palace strikers were getting frustrated with the blocking tactics and over enthusiastic tackling from the committed Fleet defence but after 10 mins of play The eagles broke the deadlock using the wing well for Maya to fire over a low cross for Elle to get on the end off.1-0 to Palace.

The girls were now trying to play their passing game but were struggling to break the Fleet back line with the Ball running out of play with any through passes or running through to the Fleet GK.The oppositions tactics were direct with long throws hoping to cause panic in the Palace rear guard but for the majority of the game these were well dealt with ,Emily being immense in the air winning every ball thrown at her and Rebekah not having a save to make.The half time whistle blew with Palace winning 1-0 and pretty comfortable.

The 2nd half started much the same with the Eagles trying to move the ball around and find space but again the extra attention the strikers were being given was causing a lot of frustration with at one stage India being held back from making a run into the penalty box to receive a through pass like the defence marking the attackers in an American football match.The Ref was happy to let this go so the girls just got on with the task in hand and finally put the game to rest with a 2nd goal from Elle to give the game a more realistic scoreline given the control the eagles had.With one last shot from Rebecca missing the Fleet top right hand corner by inches,the Ref blew for full time. 2-0 to the Eagles.

With Afc winning a potential banana skin of a match at Teddington it now looks like they will win the league and the palace girls will have to look back on the missed opportunities at South Park, Abbey and at home to Afc earlier in the season when despite dominating the games they failed to score the goals the performances deserved.

Along with the double header that we were forced to play at Teddington it has been a frustrating April for the squad but with one league game to play yet again away this time at Colne Valley, the girls do look like they've put this behind them and are now back to winning ways.

With 2 cup finals coming up there is still plenty to look forward to !