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Sunday 28 November 2004 FA Nationwide Women's Premier League, Southern Division
Crystal Palace Ladies
1
-
3
AFC Wimbledon
Match report
CRYSTAL PALACE LADIES 1 AFC WIMBLEDON LADIES 3
Three goals in the last 20 minutes earned the Dons a hard fought victory at a miserable and muddy Whyteleafe.
The Dons struggled with the direct style of Crystal Palace, and the chief tormentor was Chinwe Osuji who opened the scoring in the 11th minute, latching on to a Louise Cooper goal kick and holding off a defender before shooting low into the bottom corner. Laura Smith's through ball put Beth Sims clear, but she was brilliantly denied by Akabeuze. Osuji then crossed for Covington to shoot over from close range and Osuji then saw a powerful volley tipped over by Cooper before a Lizzie Laws free kick was fumbled by Akabeuse, who recovered well to deny Gemma Hunt.
At half time AFC Wimbledon decided to mark Osuji more closely, which reduced her effectiveness. Gemma Hunt had the ball in the net within a minute of the restart after a fine four-woman move, but she was narrowly offside. Cooper then saved Osuji's header and the loose ball was hacked away. Carly Hunt's attempted lob was saved and Gemma Hunt headed a Laws corner just wide before Cooper kept the Dons in the game, saving three times in quick succession from Osuji (twice) and Covington. Dons equalised in the 71st minute with a superb dipping Lizzie Laws shot from the right hand touchline that sailed over Akabeuse's head. Four minutes later a Laws cross wasn't cleared and Carly Hunt unselfishly set up Maria Bertelli to curl the ball into the far corner of the net. Wimbledon were now well on top and scored a third goal in the 87th minute, Laws free kick finding Smith, whose shot was blocked only for Gemma Hunt to react first and poke the ball home. There was still time for Gemma Hunt to have a shot saved and Smith to fire a superb volley against the inside of the post, the ball rebounding to Gemma Hunt who could only stab the ball wide of the empty net.
