Charlton Athletic Women finally claimed their first win of the season as they edged past London City Lionesses 1-0 on Wednesday evening.
Second-half substitute Charlie Estcourt netted late on at the Oakwood to clinch her side three points in the Continental League Cup.
Manager Riteesh Mishra suggested his side have been long due a win and they finally made their dominance across 90 minutes pay dividends on a bitterly cold evening in south-east London.
Lacklustre first half
During the first period, neither side managed to get a real hold of the game with chances few and far between.
The Lionesses’ insistence on building from the back caused them many issues early on with their back-line gifting away possession and chances to Charlton.
However, both Sara Eggesvik and Siobhan Wilson spurned opportunities in quick succession.
Another pair of decent opportunities then fell the way of Charlton’s Georgia Griffin – but the forward was lackadaisical in front of goal and spurned both chances.
The final talking point of the first half came for Charlton, with Eggesvik being felled inside the penalty, but despite strong appeals from the hosts, the incident was waved away by the referee.
Late London Derby Winner
After the restart, Charlton came within inches of being gifted the lead as Griffin’s shot was spilt by Lucy Thomas but trickled just wide – much to the relief of the City goalkeeper.
Griffin was once again heavily involved in the action, as the ball fell to her in space inside the visitors’ area, but she was only able to fire her shot at the keeper.
City later had their chance to attack with Vanessa Susana producing a wicked effort at goal, forcing Charlton’s Shanell Salgado into making an even better save.
The 25-year-old produced a wonderful diving save and even had the assurance to clasp on to the ball.
The breakthrough finally came with just 10 minutes remaining, as substitutes Charlie Devlin and Estcourt combined to great effect to win the game for the south-east Londoners.
A Charlie Estcourt goal secured victory over London City Lionesses yesterday evening, and look at what it meant to the team #cafc #cafcwomen pic.twitter.com/1BRBNKjClW
— Charlton Athletic Women (@CAFCWomen) November 21, 2019
Leicester Bounce Back
Mishra admitted his side were looking to use the Conti Cup game as a chance to bounce back from their disappointing 1-1 draw with Leicester City on the weekend.
The manager insisted his side were worthy of the three points against the Foxes and a failure to do so was the story of the club’s season so far.
Mishra said, “With the situation we’re in with the Conti Cup, we couldn’t progress anyway so we really used this as a game to bounce back from Leicester City – which we deserved to get three points from.
“That’s been the story of our season so far, I think we played really well in games and that’s no different today.
“I just wish sometimes we could get ahead in a game and give ourselves some comfort with a two or three-goal lead.”
Mishra added that he was delighted his side were finally able to get a win following a tricky period.
“I’m so pleased for the players, it’s been a real tough period, not in performances, but just the fact we’ve not been able to get that little bit of luck to get a result.
“Today we got that result and we’re now going to take that into Sunday.”
The Addicks return to Championship action on the weekend when they travel across London to take on London Bees.
Charlton’s Line-Up and Substitutes
Salgado, Newborough, Clifford, Gotch, Casley, Griffiths (Maple, 85), Griffin, Eggesvik (Estcourt, 66), Legg (Devlin 74), Wilson, Mustaki
Attendance At The Oakwood
226
