Crystal Palace Women earned their place in the fourth-round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup by beating Lewes FC 1-0 at The Dripping Pan.
Crystal Palace Women earned their place in the fourth-round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup by beating Lewes FC 1-0 at The Dripping Pan.
Lewes defended resolutely throughout the game, but My Cato's 42nd minute header proved to be the difference as Palace won 1-0 at The Dripping Pan.
The Eagles controlled the opening proceedings, with Lewes barely progressing beyond the halfway line.
The first real chance of the game came on 12 minutes, with Indiah-Paige Riley being played in behind on the right-side.
The New Zealand international whipped a fierce cross across goal, only for Maddie Brant to almost steer the ball into her own net.
Thankfully for the hosts, the ball instead bounced off of the crossbar and out of danger.
Palace took the lead minutes before the half-time break through Cato, who bagged her first goal of the season.
A dangerous inswinging corner was whipped in by Isabella Sibley, and there was Cato to head the ball into the bottom right corner.
It was the best time for Palace to score, and they went into the break 1-0 up.
Jo Potter rang the changes after half-time with Palace making four substitutions before the 65th minute.
The crossbar would deny the Eagles a second on 69 minutes, as substitute Ashleigh Weerden had her looping cross bounce off the bar.
86 minutes in and Lewes would get their first shot on target of the game, but Shae Yañez was equal to the effort and held the ball well.
Palace held on for the 1-0 win in Sussex, and will now be in the hat for the fourth-round, which will take place on either Saturday 17th or Sunday 18th January 2026.
The draw for the fourth-round takes place tomorrow on the Adobe Women’s FA Cup YouTube channel from 19:00 GMT.
The Eagles are next in action on Wednesday at 19:00 GMT as they take on Bristol City away from home in the Barclays Women's Super League 2.
You can get your tickets for that game by clicking the button below!
Lewes: Moore (GK), Brant, Schreimaier (Rowe, 64), Banaras (Roche, 84), Carpenter (Ferguson, 73), Trewhitt (Bell, 64), Howells, Harvey, Priest, Edwards, Lane
Subs not used: Woods (GK), Ginger, Gilligan
Palace: Yañez (GK), Napier, Cato, Sibley, Hughes (Sharpe, 60), Howat (Weerden, 60), Brown (Larkin, 45), Nolan, Blanchard, Riley, Bailey (Everett, 64)
Subs not used: Browne (GK), Hopcroft, Swaby
