Report & Highlights: Palace Women beaten by Birmingham at St Andrew’s

Summary:

• Palace unchanged from win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane
• Birmingham make brighter start but opening to the game generally quiet, despite saves from Fran Kitching
• Olivia McLoughlin fires Blues into the lead after half-an-hour
• Hosts hit the bar through Jade Pennock moments later
• Pennock scores quickfire double on the stroke of half-time
• HT: Birmingham Women 3-0 Palace Women
• Eagles go on the offensive after half-time
• Rianna Dean scores first Palace goal – and first goal in 18 months, having returned from long-term injury – on the hour
• Birmingham hold firm and see out the win
• FT: Birmingham Women 3-1 Palace Women

Under the St Andrew’s lights, it was the hosts who made the faster start, Lucy Quinn shooting wide from distance early on before Jade Pennock’s effort forced Fran Kitching into a simple save for Palace.

But true to their attacking style so far this season, it didn’t take long before Palace got on the ball and started to threaten, with Annabel Blanchard forcing Lucy Thomas into a smart stop after quarter-of-an-hour.

Neither team were able to create too much inside the opening half-an-hour – Kitching admittedly the busier goalkeeper, dealing with two low efforts from Pennock and Claudia Walker – so it was all the more frustrating when Birmingham took the lead on 31 minutes.

It came via midfielder Olivia McLoughlin, who played a one-two with Walker around the Palace box before dispatching clinically beyond Kitching.

The goal seemed to spur Birmingham on and, just moments later, they came close to doubling their advantage when Quinn’s clipped cross landed on the head of Pennock, whose effort clipped the bar before the Eagles managed to scramble clear.

Sadly, those warning signs were not heeded, and the floodgates opened.

On 41 minutes, Pennock doubled the Blues’ advantage after intercepting Kitching’s ball out from the back – and just five minutes later, the hosts had a seemingly unassailable half-time advantage when Pennock, again, finished off a clever set-piece routine.

After a promising opening to the game, a 3-0 deficit at the break was not true to Palace’s performance or indeed form of late – yet paved the way for a spirited display in the second-half.

The Eagles dominated immediately after the restart, with both Coral Haines and Anna Filbey coming close with efforts from outside the box, both narrowly clearing the crossbar.

Birmingham attempted to hit back with Jamie Finn forcing the onrushing Kitching into a good low save, but it was Palace who would score the game’s next goal – and, with it, a poignant moment for Rianna Dean.

Some 18 months after her last two professional goals – strikes for Liverpool in September 2021, before suffering the long-term injury which delayed the start to her Palace career – the No. 9 found herself in the right place in the right time to finish from Blanchard’s pull-back on the hour.

Try as they might, however, Palace could not produce that second goal which would have given them real hope of completing the comeback, with Blanchard next to try her luck from range, only to be denied by Thomas.

As the seconds ticked down – and with Kitching having produced a good save from Ashley Hodson at the other end – Polly Doran had perhaps Palace’s best chance to get a goal back, but the Australian full-back was unable to keep her volleyed effort down.

Defeat sees Palace Women remain sixth in the Women’s Championship table, with five matches of the season remaining – including Sunday’s exciting Women’s Football Weekend clash with Blackburn Rovers at Hayes Lane, which you can read more about here.

Birmingham: Thomas (GK), Bourne, Quinn, Lawley, Finn (Harris 61), McLoughlin, Estcourt (Murray 61), Quinn (Hodson 61), Wilson, Pennock (Worsey 78), Walker

Subs: Jones, Scott, Simkin, Devlin, Smith, Worsey

Palace: Kitching (GK), Reilly, Everett, Waldie, Doran, Olding, Filbey, Haines, Blanchard, Dean (Gibbons 78), Sharpe (Hughes 83)

Subs: Negri (GK), Smith (GK), Johnson, Wilson-White, Arthur