Chatham Town Women (0) – QPR FC Women (1)

FA Women’s National League Division One (South-East)

Team: Clarke, Searle, Gotch, Brooks, Blodgett, Hill, Lewin, Dzyadyk, Leach, Mehmet, Orchard

Subs: Doyle, Sampson, Owen, Ali, Munro, Stanley, Makowska

Sammy & I bumped into Ron Hill at Chatham Railway Station, and from there we took the bus to the ground.

Sitting behind me was a local R’s fan and Steve told me that the first choice Chatham keeper had been sent off after 65 minutes in their previous match.

Not only that, their captain, was also shown a red card for remonstrating with the referee! But they still managed to beat MK Dons 3-2!

Emily Hill captained a Rangers side wearing green & white hoops.

Seven minutes in, and a ball out to Ellie Searle concluded with the R’s No.3 shooting directly at the keeper.

Then, her cross into the box evaded a team-mate, but not a Chats defender and the ball went behind. The resulting corner was then cleared to safety.

Annie Dzyadyk received a pass from midfield and the Rangers winger then shot forward before seeing her attempt saved.

After 23 minutes, Annie Dzyadyk’s opportunist lob ended up just wide of the target.

Ten minutes or so from the interval, Annie Dzyadyk just managed to get to the bye-line, where her cross into the box received a slight deflection before going behind for a corner.

Then, Fern Orchard’s free kick from around 25-yards was comfortably held by Simone Eligon.

The Chats keeper made a very good save on 38 minutes from Jess Leach’s powerful strike. Half-time: 0-0.

Rangers took the lead in the 49th minute following a clumsy challenge on Jess Leach in the box. The R’s striker then made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Danny Harrigan made two changes around the hour-mark, which saw Grace Stanley and Natalia Makowska replace Jess Leach and Annie Dzyadyk respectively.

Surprisingly, Ms Karkoska only awarded a free kick after Lucy Jones’ blatant foul on Ellie Searle!

Kenny Clarke momentarily lost control of the ball, but she then did well to go down and recover it.

With striker Amelia Woodgate brought on, the home side continued to look for an equaliser.

On 70 minutes, Georgie Lewin’s excellent close-range tackle in the box deprived the home side of a goalscoring opportunity.

Four minutes later, Libby Doyle came on for Melis Mehmet.

And then soon after, Amelia Woodgate’s flick from Lottie Sharp’s low drive came off an R’s defender and ended up going wide.

This was a good period for the home side and on 77 minutes, Lucy Jones’ in-swinging corner was somehow cleared after coming off the bar, but only as far as Karesha Iton, whose shot from 18-yards, flew wide of the target.

The players then took a drinks break.

Jo Blodgett made way for Izzy Own on 82 minutes, and Alana Munro was introduced five minutes later.

Rangers successfully saw out the rest of the game and deserved the three points.

Steve Russell