ANATOMY OF A MATCH. Palace v Charlton

Five goals. A thrilling six-pointer. Two head coaches who used to play together. And a singular South London rivalry carried on up to the WSL from the Championship.

And Tom Davies was there – on the edge of his seat – to witness Crystal Palace v Charlton Athletic in this vital local derby.

It is tense towards the bottom of the WSL table this season. Charlton have been there for some time, and their fellow promoted sides, Birmingham City and Crystal Palace have been keeping them company.

It’s a mirror image of the top of the Championship/ WSL2 last season, when one absolutely definitive tie took placed at Selhurst Park, with Jo Potter’s upwardly mobile Palace putting a spoke in Karen Hills’ Addicks’ wheels.

So when the two South London rivals were pitched against each other again in the top league, this became an irresistible, must-win game for the near neighbours. Something had to give…

PRE-MATCH

This ended up as a five-goal thriller, but before this bottom of the WSL clash we got the thoughts of Palace head coach Jo Potter and Charlton boss Karen Hills about the importance of this relegation six-pointer.

First off, speaking just ahead of the game, we focused on how much the match meant to each team in their battle against relegation.

Jo Potter, Crystal Palace

This is the very definition of a six-pointer. I know we’re only a third of the way through the season, but it already feels defining.

Yeah, I think because of where we both sit in the table as well, that looks even more so.

We feel like we should be in a better position than what we’re in right now, which is down to us.

We’ve made this game become more important, potentially, than what it should have been right now. But we are where we are.

I think Charlton are definitely looking at it and going: There’s a chance here that the next team in line with us that’s just one place above us, so it’s an opportunity for them.

We’ve got to make sure we’re trying to keep that gap – and extend that gap – between us, and putting us in with a fighting chance, and staying close because everything is super close at the moment as you can see.

So we’re in this position and we’ve got to make sure we’re staying fully focused to try and come away with three points.

Karen Hills, Charlton Athletic

What do you think are the main threats of Palace both tactically and individually?

Their recruitment was very good. You can see what they’ve done. They’ve gone after experienced players.

The best player in the league, Lexi Lloyd Smith from WSL2. They’ve obviously gone after experienced players like Teyah Goldie, who was at Arsenal and London City.

They got Molly Bartrip, who’s been in and around the WSL for a long time, as well as Beth England.

They also have players that played in the WSL with Palace the year before, like Annabel Blanchard.

So you’re looking at their squad and looking at what they’ve done in recruitment, I think it was really positive for them.

We’ve played them already in the cup. Obviously, the personnel’s probably changed, but I think the style might continue to be the same.

We’ve been very deliberate in in our work this week to try to give the players all the information they need, but then at the same time, I want us to really focus on us.

I want us to be really deliberate in what we do, and back ourselves and have a lot of confidence and belief, because there was some really good football being played against Chelsea against one of the best sides, and we managed to play really well in some chaos moments.

That’s the message to the players: if we can play at that level, at that speed, under that pressure, then then that’s only going to put us in good stead to put in a performance this weekend.

MATCHDAY

The match kicked off at Gander Green Lane, Palace’s home ground in Sutton, on 8th November. With both teams needing a win, this promised to be an exciting clash – and it did not disappoint.

Charlton started the match strong, with headers deep in the box by Leah Davidson in the first minute and Gillian Kenney in the third.

Chance after chance came without an opener, with their stand-out player Jodie Hutton getting an amazing chance as she whipped in a ball from the left after half an hour, only for it to go narrowly wide.

HT: 0-0.

The second half started with Palace regaining their dominance, with the opener coming in the 57th minute, when what seemed an unassuming cross from Lexi Lloyd-Smith (below, left) flew into the box, ending up in the back of the Charlton net off keeper Sophie Whitehouse (below, right). 1-0.

Just as a sense of acceptance of defeat was washing over the Charlton fans, a collision between Cassandra Korhonen and Teyah Goldie in the Palace box led the referee to blow her whistle for a penalty in the 71st minute.

Keira Flannery stepped up to the spot, beating the goalkeeper, but her shot rebounded off the bar. Defender Elisha N’Dow was first to react, darting forward and heading the ball into the net. 1-1.

With energy renewed, Charlton players darted forward in the 74th minute, with Leah Davidson picking up a low cross through the Palace defence and blasting it into the back of the net. 1-2.

They couldn’t keep the lead for long though, with skipper Aimee Everett getting a header in the Charlton box that crashes into the top corner in the 81st minute. 2-2.

Another flurry of Palace corners ensued, with Charlton trapped in their box until the inevitable Beth England finally tapped in a 90th minute chance from close range to seal the tie, with the final whistle coming soon after. 3-2.

The five-goal thriller puts Palace up to 10th in the WSL, now above Liverpool, West Ham, Birmingham and, of course, Charlton.

On the plus side for the Addicks, their Charlton players put in an admirable performance, full of energy and fight for their head coach, yet continued their losing run.

But for Palace this was a crucial fight back from a goal down, and they rode out Charlton’s dominance in the first half to take just their second win of the season.

POST-MATCH VERDICT

Jo Potter, Palace

That was a real six-pointer at the bottom of the table, wouldn’t you say?

Yeah, definitely. It’s a lot of relief that I’m feeling right now because obviously you’re coming into the game knowing the position that both teams are in and the importance of the win.

So, yeah, it’s a lot of relief at the end of the game to get three points.

It was a bit tight at the end there. How nice was it to see that final goal go in?

Oh, yeah, you can’t explain that feeling to anybody. Only as a footballer, as a fan, as somebody that loves the game as much as you do…

You can’t explain that feeling. If you could bottle it up and sell it it’d be worth millions.

And I know the feeling on the other end of it as well, which is horrible.

So, the relief at the end of the game is unbelievable. I think Beth’s waiting for her moment and she’s come up trumps for us.

Those three points take you up to 10th in the table. How does that feel?

Yeah, we knew that three points – a point in this league where everybody is so close together at the moment – can just throw you up so many places….

We’ve not won in a while so we knew three points was going to be big and it’s managed to move us up the league table…

So, it’s another reason why we knew the game was going to be massive for us today.

Up next: it’s inevitably another London derby for Charlton this Sunday 15 Nov, playing West Ham away at 2pm. Palace travel north to play Man United on Saturday 14 Nov, kick-off 12.45pm

Photos: Tom Davies, Helen M Jerome