Charlton Athletic Women through to FA Cup fifth round after 5-1 derby win at AFC Wimbledon
BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk
Charlton Athletic Women’s manager Karen Hills was disappointed her side conceded despite recording a 5-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over AFC Wimbledon to extend their winning run to seven games in all competitions.
The Addicks opened the scoring in the eighth minute through Freda Ayisi and quickly doubled their advantage three minutes later thanks to Kiera Skeels.
Angela Addison bagged before half-time, with second-half goals from Bethan Roe and Melissa Johnson taking the scoreline to 5-0.
Wimbledon forward Ashlee Hincks netted in the 81st minute, but Charlton’s place in the next round had already been booked.
“I’m really pleased,” said Hills. “It was good to get back to playing after a couple of weeks with no games. Going through to the next round was what we set our sights out for.
“We needed to try and get something early, just to settle us down, because these games can always go quite tight up until the end, especially as Wimbledon have done really well.
“We just needed to make sure we tried to silence them a little bit, not get frustrated, and score an early goal. Thankfully that’s what we did, and it was a great goal from Freda to get us on a run .
“I was pleased to see our set-pieces [work]. We worked on them in training, and we saw some good finishes .
“Five goals today, but we’re disappointed to concede. As a defender, you want to try and keep a clean sheet to keep momentum. But our momentum at the moment is about picking up seven wins in a row.
“Credit to Wimbledon – they gave us a go. If they pressed us higher in the first half, they would have caused us more problems. Overall, we coped with it, and it was a professional performance.”
Charlton host Coventry United, who are bottom of the Women’s Championship, at Sparrows Lane on Sunday. Coventry have only won once all season.
“Coventry will be an extremely tough test,” said Hills. “Since they have signed new players, they have had a couple of really good results. They must be full of confidence.
“Thankfully on Sunday we got players back out on the pitch who haven’t played for a little while. We’re in really good shape.”
Crystal Palace Women were knocked out of the FA Cup after they suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Durham.
Goals from Mollie Lambert and Jessica Clarke opened the scoring for the hosts, who were 2-0 up within 16 minutes.
Lily Crosthwaite added Durham’s third in second-half added time to knock the Eagles out of the competition.
Dean Davenport’s side, who have lost their last two outings in the league, travel to third-place Southampton in the Championship on Sunday.
AFC Wimbledon will head to Actonians on Sunday for a top-of-the- table clash in the National League South-East division. The Dons are third, two points off Actonians in second.
Kevin Foster’s side are unbeaten in their previous five league outings.
