Women’s football: Charlton Athletic hold Championship leaders Liverpool at Prenton Park

Liverpool and Charlton shared the points in a goalless draw at Prenton Park.

Matt Beard’s side had the majority of the chances in the FA Women’s Championship clash but the visitors were resolute at the back and Eartha Cumings made good saves when called upon.

A win would have taken the hosts another step closer to the title but luck was not on their side.

It was a cagey opening 15 minutes, and the first clear cut chance came shortly after when Taylor Hinds’ long-range strike was pushed wide by Cumings.

Shortly before the break, Hinds saw another effort go just over the bar.

The hosts came incredibly close on 53 minutes when Yana Daniels’ header from a corner brought about an excellent reflex save from Cumings.

Charlton had a rare opportunity four minutes later when Ella Rutherford’s strike went over the bar after a poor pass into her path from the Liverpool defence.

The visitors came agonisingly close again on 78 minutes when Rutherford’s effort was scuffed over the bar by Jasmine Matthews when she attempted to clear Liverpool’s lines.

Liverpool could have got in front two minutes later but Rachel Furness’ volley went just wide of the mark to leave the FA Women’s Championship leaders frustrated again.

On 84 minutes, Katie Stengel made ground on the right, squared it to Leanne Kiernan and her strike was stopped by the legs of Cumings and Ceri Holland put the rebound over the bar.

Charlton manager Karen Hills said: “Overall the performance was very good, I think we were disappointed with last week because we played them [Liverpool] then and we pretty much matched them and outplayed them in patches of the game, and that was very much the same sort of story today.

“I’m really pleased for the point because we didn’t deserve to lose that game, the same as how we didn’t deserve to lose last week. It was a fair result.

“Two teams that played some fantastic football at times, two teams that cancelled each other out and we’re really pleased that we’ve been able to compete with the league leaders, not just on the off chance but we’ve been able to do that over two consecutive weeks.

“The game opened up [towards the end] and both teams were wanting to go for the win, and rightly so.

“Our defence stood strong with some bodies on the lines and great blocks. Hopefully it was an exciting game for the spectators and shows once again what the Championship is all about.”

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