Charlton Women host Birmingham City at The Valley on Saturday (KO 3pm) in the final, and most important, game of the WSL2 season.
Charlton Athletic
The Addicks returned to the top of the league after taking a point from their trip to Southampton last weekend. In a dramatic ending to the game, balanced at 1-1 heading into the 90th minute, Charlton got a penalty. Emma Bissell came on, put the ball on the spot and dispatched the pen.
Only a couple of minutes later, now deep into extra time, Southampton equalised through ex-Addick Atlanta Primus to bring the game level again at 2-2. Yet, the drama was not over there, as Charlton went back on the attack and struck the crossbar before having a handball shout dismissed by the ref, with the final whistle soon following.
With results elsewhere, it meant that Charlton went back to the summit of WSL2, a point above Birmingham in second, and a point above Crystal Palace in third (who are below Birmingham on goal difference).
Karen Hills was proud of the way her team rallied after initially going behind in the first half. She said: "Super proud of the group today, I thought we had to dig in. I thought the first half we definitely wasn’t at our best. Credit to Southampton, they took the game, they took their goal really, really well, and we needed to find something within us to bounce back.
"I thought the girls were outstanding in that second half, and two game changers came on and made the difference. Obviously, just disappointed we couldn’t see that last little bit out, but these players have worked so hard, and I’m so proud of the character they showed, and we’re going to take that into the game next week."
Birmingham City
Before last weekend, Birmingham City had won their last three in a row in the league, a run that saw them leapfrog Charlton into first on goal difference. That run came to an end when Ipswich went to St. Andrews and took a surprise 3-0 lead in the first 15 minutes.
The score remained at 3-0 for the rest of the game, allowing Charlton to retake first in the league table, setting up this final fixture brilliantly for the neutral, with it all to play for.
Birmingham, like Charlton and Crystal Palace, are assured of at least third place in WSL2. Whoever lands in that spot would have to contest a play-off match with the bottom-placed team from the WSL, with the winner taking the final spot in the WSL next season.
Head-to-Head
Charlton and Birmingham have met 2 times in their history, with Charlton having the better of the meetings, winning 14, drawing four and losing six.
The first ever meeting between the two was in the FA Cup quarter-final in 2003, which Charlton won 3-1.
The two teams met at St. Andrew's earlier this season, with Charlton winning that game 1-0 thanks to a Katie Bradley penalty.
WATCH LIVE
Supporters can watch all the action live on YouTube, streamed on the WSL2 YouTube channel
Tickets are still available for this match at The Valley, and you can get yours now through the link below.
You can upgrade your ticket to hospitality for access to our 1905 hospitality lounge pre-match, at half-time and post-match, but these are selling out fast:
