Women’s football: Crystal Palace beat Bristol City 4-3 in Championship opener
Crystal Palace made it a winning start to the new FA Women’s Championship season, beating Bristol City 4-3 at Hayes Lane.
It was an opening minute to forget for the visitors, who were in action for the first time since relegation from the Super League last term.
Lia Cataldo impeded Siobhan Wilson inside the area, leading referee Jade Wardle to point to the spot. Coral-Jade Haines executed from 12 yards with a firmly struck spot-kick to put Palace ahead.
The home side doubled their advantage after 15 minutes when Charley Clifford met a teasing, deep Wilson corner and finished after the ball initially struck the post.
Bristol City had the woodwork to thank for not going further behind soon after as another Wilson corner looked to cause problems, this time directly striking the crossbar.
At the other end Chloe Morgan was drawn into a smart save from Melissa Johnson, who managed to halve the deficit on the 42nd minute.
The Eagles restored their two-goal advantage before half-time, Kirsty Barton wonderfully controlling a lofted Haines pass before poking past goalkeeper Fran Bentley.
Quick-fire goals for both teams lit up the restart, Haines bagging her second of the game from a Leanne Cowan cross before substitute Simran Jhamat capitalised on a loose pass from Morgan to tuck home into the unguarded net.
Bristol City added another through Agnes Beever-Jones in stoppage time, but Crystal Palace claimed all the points in their thrilling curtain-raiser.
Wilson said: “We’ve put a lot of work in over pre-season and to see it come out the way we wanted it to today is a great feeling. It was a tight game. There were a lot more goals conceded than we would have wished for, but at the end of the day we got three points and that’s all that matters.”
“When I got into that position I thought maybe I could’ve had a shot here, but I just dropped my shoulder, knocked it past and I got a foul, and thankfully Coral finished it. It was a good start.
“My first corner wasn’t great! I hit the first one out. But I made sure the next ones were half-decent deliveries. We scored off of one of them, so I’m glad I could contribute something to the win.”
To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.
PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD
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