With a 9-1 victory over Durham at the VBS Community Stadium this afternoon, Crystal Palace has risen to the top of the Barclays Women’s Championship standings.
In what should have been a difficult test for The Eagles, the sun was beaming on them as they destroyed arch rivals Durham in today’s early kick-off.
The first few minutes of the game were dominated by Durham, who appeared to be in complete control. They were penalized at the quarter-hour mark after repeatedly falling victim to the Crystal Palace counter. 25 yards from the goal, Shanade Hopcroft picked up the ball and passed it to Hayley Nolan, who set herself up properly and produced a lovely left-footed drive that sailed straight towards the top corner.
As the dangerous Paige Bailey-Gayle surged down the right, the opposition was once more caught off guard on the counterattack. Sarah Wilson did a good job of slowing her down, but the Durham captain was powerless to stop her from giving Annabel Blanchard a perfectly weighted ball to drill into the net’s roof.
In the final seconds of the first half, Blanchard scored her second goal and Crystal Palace’s third. Abby Holmes was penalized for tripping Elise Hughes in the area, and Blanchard handled herself well enough to convert the penalty kick into the bottom corner.
Crystal Palace obviously didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to slow down in the second half, contrary to popular belief.
Blanchard finished off her hat-trick in just 10 minutes, and it was a flawless one at that. In addition to her two goals in the first half, the Crystal Palace number 10 produced a superb downward header from a corner that curled in from the left.
The midfielder connected with Araya Dennis, who then sent the ball to Elise Hughes, looking to create a goal rather than just score one herself. The forward easily scored as she shot past a defenseless Naoisha McAloon.
Palace’s smooth attacking style served to further emphasize their dominance. Aimee Everett, the team’s captain, carried the ball out of defense and drove at Durham’s backline. Hughes received a quick ball from her, returned it in kind, and then Everett set up her partner once more for a goal to bring the score up to six.
Once more, Dennis was the provider as she provided an excellent cross from the right that found Molly Sharpe, who added Crystal Palace’s seventh goal with an expertly timed header.
The eighth goal caused some confusion as a group of Crystal Palace players rushed to finish a corner at the near post. There were several players attempting to claim the ball after it was deflected into the top corner.
It didn’t matter, though, because a blocked shot dropped pleasantly into the hands of the Crystal Palace number nine, who scored with ease from close range to further Durham’s agony.
Poppy Pritchard took advantage of a mistake between Natalia Negri and Annabel Johnson at the back to give the Wildcats a chance to score in stoppage time, and she sent the ball into an open net.
