PALACE SECURE THE POINTS AT HOME TO CARDIFF

Palace Ladies put in a dominant performance against a dogged Cardiff City side on Sunday, at Bromley FC in their latest FA Women’s Premier League fixture. The Eagles having only conceded one goal at home so far this season looked in good shape, despite the absence of regulars Ciara Sherwood, Nikita Whinnett and the long-term injured Fran Ali.
In a tie that saw Palace unable to take the three points in the two encounters last season, the hosts looked keen to rectify things, with pressure and possession from the very start. Cardiff who had travelled with only 12 players were still looking to take a foothold in the game when Palace pounced in the fifth minute. A free-kick whipped in from the right by Steff Simmonds was not effectively cleared and it fell to the imperious midfielder, Leesa Haydock who slotted home from close range.

The Palace domination continued with Cardiff restricted to looking for the long ball counter-attack as a means of response. The inevitable downside of such a tactic was the banks of defenders that Palace were faced with, throughout the game; a well organised system that regularly thwarted the home side’s front line. Palace, to their credit, did not become frustrated, and indeed showed a degree of patience and flexibility that had, at times, been less obvious, earlier in the season. The industry of Simmonds and Pam McRoberts out wide, created a supply line, whilst the tenacious Amy Green settled into her new side further, with another good performance. Perhaps the stand-out performance of the half was from Ellie Bailes, who at times was unplayable; in and around the visitor’s penalty area.
Despite numerous efforts on goal, including close calls from Rosie Paye, Haydock and Gemma Bryan, Palace went in, only the one goal up at half time, knowing that this had been a comfortable performance but a was a vulnerable score-line.

The second half, again saw Palace start the brighter, although again, were unable to capitalise. However, Cardiff had stronger spells themselves during the second forty -five, enjoying longer spells of possession – albeit not, ultimately, causing any real concern for Megen Lynch in the Palace goal.
As the half wore on, Palace showed their fitness and used their substitutes to good effect, with Ria Collins replacing McRoberts and Jade Davenport coming on for Amy Green.
And, it was Davenport, with one her very earliest contributions, who was first to a clearance from the Cardiff ‘keeper, laying the ball on for the alert, Bryan, who beat her defender and coolly slid the ball home for a Palace second in the eighty-second minute. The goal, Bryan’s ninety-fourth for The Eagles was enough to break the Cardiff resolve and for Palace to finish the stronger, seeing out a good 2-0 win.

Speaking after the game, Manager Dean Davenport was pleased with how his team had acquitted themselves

“I thought the team went about the game in exactly the right way today. On the front foot, but realistic that this is a tough team to beat and that possession would potentially outweigh clear-cut chances. Getting the early goal was great, but the girls knew that concentration was the key as any slip-up could be punished. It was good to see Leesa score; not least for the quality performances that she puts in every week”

Looking at the remainder of the match, Davenport added

“We knew that if we kept plugging away and kept our belief and intensity, that we should be in with a shout for our second – although it was a case of when? I thought that Cardiff marshalled our forward play well, keeping Gemma under tabs pretty well. But, as she often shows, she wont switch off and when she gets that chance, you can be pretty sure that she will take it.”

Looking ahead, Davenport added,

“We tend not to look too far into the future, although we have our objectives. We know that the leagues standings are affected by the games in hand that we have, so we just need to take the points when a where we can and keep moving forwards. These are exciting times at The Club and we need to make sure that what we are doing on the field continues to entertain and make Palace fans proud.”

Palace Ladies travel to play New London Lionesses in the SSE FA Cup (second round) nest Sunday. Details of the game will be across Palace Ladies social media this week