Charlton Women lost 2-1 to Bristol City at Ashton Gate, in a battling effort that showed the margins of football.
Charlton started well, dominating the ball and creating some openings, yet, overall, it was a quiet first 15 with neither side forcing saves from the keepers.
Charlton then had their best chances to score when a free Amalie Thestrup found Jodie Hutton on the edge of the box. Her deflected shot squirmed past the post and went for a corner from which Kiera Skeels had a great chance to score, but Fran Bentley in the Bristol goal closed down the point-blank shot well.
Despite the chances, the Addicks went behind soon after. A corner for Bristol found Gemma Lawley, who nodded the ball on and into the six-yard box. There was Sophie Ingle on hand for the home side to flick her head at the ball and into the net.
Charlton continued to press and probe, but Bristol still had chances to extend the lead. If it wasn’t for some terrific defending by Jodie Hutton, heading a corner off the line, the Addicks would have gone into the break further behind.
The second half started with high intensity from Charlton, knowing that they could get something from the game. Because of the great pressure, the best chance of those opening exchanges fell to Keira Flannery, but she blazed over on her half volley.
Bristol grew into the game from then and created some dangerous chances that came to nothing before they found their second. A well-worked move allowed Bristol to attack up the left. Maria Farrugia drove into the box and fizzed a ball across that was deflected to Lexi Lloyd-Smith. Her scuffed shot ballooned up and threw off Sophie Whitehouse in our net, and put the hosts 2-0 up.
Being behind, Karen Hills turned to her bench to change the game, and two subs linked up to get Charlton back into the game. A long ball up was controlled by Lucy Fitzgerald in the box, and she laid the ball off to Mary McAteer, whose short, incisive pass found Gillian Kenney just outside the six-yard box. Her clever touch took her away from the defender in front, and she blasted the ball past Fran Bentley to give the Addicks a chance to take something from the game with 20 left.
The Addicks pushed and probed until the end. In added time, the Bristol City crossbar was rattled twice in quick succession from a corner, before a deep Katie Bradley freekick needed Bentley to palm the ball away. If fate had fallen our way, that equaliser would have been found, but the spirited effort from the team was not rewarded, and the match finished 2-1 to Bristol.
Charlton Athletic: Whitehouse, N’Dow, Mason, Skeels, Siber (Newsham 55), Bradley, Flannery (McAteer 68), Hutton (Bissell 83), Fitzgerald, Thestrup (Kenney 55), Muya (Lockwood 68)
Subs (not used): Pedersen, Ross, Pearse, Lobato
Goals: Kenney 70
Booked: Siber 45+3 (pulling)
Bristol City: Bentley, Powell, Lawley, Ingle, Robinson (Gale 77), Lloyd-Smith, Ward, Wos, Syme, Farrugia (Morgan 68), Jones (Dafeur 68)
Subs (not used): Brzykcy, Struck, Saez, Bennett
Goals: Ingle 24, Lloyd-Smith 61
Booked: Syme 53 (foul on Bradley)
Attendance: 1571
Referee: Kirsty Dowle