Woman’s football round-up: Charlton prepare to take on Lewes in FA Championship clash
Charlton Athletic Women kick off their FA Women’s Championship campaign on Sunday.
The Addicks, who finished third in the table last season, start proceedings with a home game against Lewes at The Oakwood, Crayford (1pm).
Charlton captain Grace Coombs said: “Everyone’s really excited for the season ahead. Pre-season’s been tough, but things are really coming together and when it comes to the game, everyone’s going to be really up for it.
“We will compete this season. The gaffer [Riteesh Mishra] has built a really strong squad, we’ve got a lot of strength in depth which, we haven’t had for the past couple of years for various reasons, so it’s exciting to see what we can do.
“Every year the gaffer’s been here, the aim for the next season has been to do better than we did last year. We’re not putting any pressure on ourselves. We’re just going to try and take each week as it comes, be better each week and go from there.”
Crystal Palace Women drew 0-0 against Coventry United in their opener last weekend at Bromley’s Hayes Lane.
Freya Holdaway and Cherelle Khassal came the closest to scoring for the hosts.
Palace midfielder Andria Georgiou said: “We had our chances, but we didn’t finish any of them. One point better is better than no points and we are very happy with a clean sheet.
“Our aim for this season is to finisher higher up the table.”
The Eagles face a long trip to Durham Women on Sunday.
Dulwich Hamlet Women took maximum points in their London & South East Regional Women’s Football League.
Liv Bennett settled the contest against Aylesford Ladies with an 83rd-minute goal.
Hamlet broke the deadlock a minute before the break, Liz Wicks tapping in after Zoe Elmore’s free-kick struck the bar.
PICTURE BY KEITH GILLARD