Fulham’s feint hopes of promotion went up in smoke after Saltdean United produced a flawless away display to secure a 1-0 win at a wet Motspur Park this afternoon.
The Whites had the better of the first half, but struggled to overly extend Blair Hamilton in the United goal, and fell behind immediately after the resumption when the impressive Paula Howells seized upon a poor backpass from Ella Tagliavini to give the visitors the lead. Steve Jaye substituted Tagliavini and skipper Mary Southgate in search of an equaliser but, despite a lengthy period of stoppage time played due to two injuries, Fulham couldn’t find a leveller.
The hosts looked to make a swift start with Rebecca Barron-Clark’s third minute cross finding Sasha Adamson only for her header to drift off target. Wing-back Madi Parsonson’s shot was well held by Hamilton, who then made a diving stop to deny Georgia Heasman. Saltdean weren’t parking the bus, however, with Howells testing Frankie Gibbs’ reflexes early on, and Georgia Bridges only inches away from getting on the end of a bright ball from Howells.
Saltdean’s disciplined defence restricted Fulham to long range efforts as a tight half drew to a close with Hamilton equal to an Adamson shot ten minutes before the break. The visitors were gifted a dream start to the second period when a dreadful back pass from Ella Tagliavini allowed Howells to open the scoring a minute after the restart with the simplest of finishes. Hill could easily have doubled Saltdean’s lead ten minutes later but skied her shot over the bar when clean through on Gibbs.
Fulham began to put pressure on the Saltdean goal in the final quarter of the contest but Hamilton stood firm in the Saltdean goal. She held efforts from Lambird and Heasman before substitute Cat Beaver blazed over in the first minute of added time.
FULHAM FC WOMEN (3-4-3): Gibbs; Dale, Tagliavini, Southgate; Parsonson, Bird, Barron-Clarke, Lambird; Heasman, Adamson, Buchele. Subs: Parker, Allen, Beaver, Christison-McNee, Lewis.
SALTDEAN UNITED WOMEN: Hamilton; Brown, Steer, Howell, Nebbitt, Boswell, Anderson, Howells, Bridges, Sullivan, Hill. Subs: Jellet, Gates, Morris, Cooper, McKenzie.
GOAL: Howells (46).
