Report & Highlights: Sharpe shooting sees Palace best Blackburn

Summary:

• Bumper crowd roar Palace on during Women’s Football Weekend
• One change from midweek defeat to Birmingham, with Elise Hughes starting
• Hughes and Everett go close for Palace in opening minutes
• Blackburn threaten from set-pieces
• Sharpe gives Palace the lead on the stroke of half-time with a powerful finish
• HT: Palace 1-0 Blackburn
• Haines forces Blackburn into early second-half save
• Kitching denies Blackburn’s Williams with important stop
• Blackburn increase the pressure in second-half
• Sharpe clears off the line for Palace
• Kitching denies Hornby with excellent low save
• Palace subs Dean and Bailey-Gayle force visiting goalkeeper into late saves
• Thomas misses huge late opportunity for Blackburn as Palace hold firm
• FT: Palace 1-0 Blackburn

Buoyed on by a spirited crowd on Women’s Football Weekend – with free programmes, entertainment and a brilliant atmosphere at Hayes Lane – Palace set about early on to make their home advantage count.

The Eagles made one change to the side who fell to a 3-1 defeat away at Birmingham’s St Andrew’s Stadium in midweek, with Elise Hughes starting in place of fellow forward Rianna Dean up top.

The form book also made for mixed readings for both sides prior to the contest, with Palace having won three of their previous five games and Blackburn without a win in nine matches in all competitions.

Playing their possession football with renewed confidence early on, Palace enjoyed two early chances in quick succession after 10 minutes, Hughes' near-post header saved well by Blackburn ‘keeper Alex Brooks, a goalmouth scramble ensuing, and Aimee Everett's shot from the edge of the box skimmed the top of the crossbar.

Moments later, Palace threatened again, as excellent build-up play from Polly Doran and Hollie Olding down the right flank resulted in a ball across the box which narrowly averted Annabel Blanchard – playing against her former club – lurking with intent.

Those early chances did dry up as injuries gave the first-half a stop-start feel, but both sides did continue to take aim from distance, without really threatening.

Then, three minutes from half-time, it was a case of Sharpe by name, sharp in front of goal by nature, the striker scoring her third goal of the season with a powerful finish from Doran's cross which blasted past Brooks in the Blackburn net.

On the balance of play, it was arguably a deserved lead, with Blackburn making three substitutions at half-time in an effort to gain a foothold in the game.

The first chance of the second period, however, fell to the home side, a ball into the box picking out Coral Haines – twice the matchwinner in recent weeks – only for her sharp control, turn and shot to be well saved by Brooks.

The visitors were showing signs of improvement in the second period without hugely threatening the Palace goalmouth, and the Eagles could have had another when Filbey slid in Olding, who was slide tackled at the last possible moment by Hannah Coan.

Blackburn could have pulled level on the hour mark when Kitching could only palm a corner-kick out to Lauren Thomas, but the Rovers midfielder found the side-netting with her first-time finish.

Sharpe soon after was forced to produce a goal-line clearance from a corner, and then Kitching needed to be on her toes to push a low Megan Hornby effort past the post, and the goalkeeper was on hand shortly after to deny Millie Chandarana from inside the box.

As the visitors committed bodies forwards, Palace had two quickfire chances to kill off the game through Paige Bailey-Gayle and Dean, only for Brooks to deny both players with fine saves.

There was to be one, final, huge opportunity inside the 90 minutes – and it fell to Blackburn. Chandarana played Hornby through in a wide position and she squared for Thomas, but yards from the goal, she somehow skewed her effort wide under pressure from Kitching.

With five minutes added to the 90, every Palace supporter in a bumper crowd made their voice heard, seeing their team through to a vital 1-0 victory.

The result takes them to within four points of the club record-breaking fourth-place finish they attained in last season's Women's Championship – and with four games left to go.

Palace: Kitching (GK), Doran, Waldie, Filbey (Arthur 78), Everett, Olding, Reilly (Johnson 90+2), Haines (Guyatt 90+1), Sharpe (Bailey-Gayle 74), Hughes (Dean 74), Blanchard

Subs not used: Negri (GK), Smith (GK), Gibbons, Wilson-White

Blackburn: Brooks (GK), Dixon (Nokuthula 46), Coan, Fenton, Richards, Crompton (Hornby 46), Hutchings (Chandarana 66), Williams, Murphy, Kur Larsen (Thomas 46), Jordan

Subs not used: Salgado (GK), McDonald, Worthington, Doyle