Breen's brace guides Women's Under-19s to victory at Palace

A first-half double from Grace Breen after an early opener from Jhanaie Pierre was enough to give our Women’s Under-19s a 3-2 victory in the Professional Game Academy League at Crystal Palace on Wednesday afternoon.

Pierre made an instant impact on her return to Under-19s action as she opened the scoring with just three minutes played before Breen, who wore the captain’s armband, rounded off an excellent first period with two fantastic strikes – curling home a low free-kick before driving home from distance.

A flat performance in the second half allowed the home side back into the contest, who pulled back two goals to create a nervy finish to the game, but we managed to hold on to an important win in our league campaign.

Sabiha Jamal stuck with the large cohort of Under-16s players that featured in last week’s draw with Southampton, one of those being defender Daisy Mae Bird, who played a pivotal role in our opening goal. With just three minutes on the clock, Bird played a lovely, weighted pass behind the home side’s backline to allow Pierre raced through on goal and she calmly slotted the ball under Keira Botten to put us ahead in the early stages of the contest.

Pierre came inches away from doubling our advantage at the midway point of the first period, her right-footed curling effort from the edge of the box struck the top of the crossbar but, just two minutes later, we grabbed our second of the afternoon as captain Breen curled a low free-kick, from outside the left of the box and about 20 yards out, around the wall and into the bottom corner - her fourth goal of the season from a free-kick.

Palace remain a threat and, on 38 minutes, Erin Radbourne was called into action, although it was a routine save from our shot stopper as she gathered Rosie Rowe’s shot from the right of the box but, three minutes before the break, Breen netted her second of the game – and it was another fantastic strike. After great work by Waris Deria to win possession back, Pierre played the ball to Breen around 25 yards out, in a central area, and our captain sent a low drive into the bottom corner to give us a healthy lead at the break.

Looking to build on a strong first 45 minutes, we did have the ball in the back of the net eight minutes after the restart, substitute Ruby Gaitely converting on the rebound after Grace Bellwood’s shot was pushed away but it was ruled out for offside. But, two minutes later, Palace pulled a goal back as a free-kick from the right caused a scramble inside the box and Lee was there to force the ball home from close range.

That raised the spirits in the home side, who began to enjoy longer spells of possession, with Nia McDonald trying her luck from distance after spotting Radbourne off her line, but she couldn’t direct her effort on target before Radbourne was forced to get down to her left to push Gabriel Spillman’s shot around the post as they started to carve out more opportunities.

Pierre had an effort from the edge of the box that was routine for Botten but, at the other end, Palace continued to pile on more pressure as they searched for a way back into the game, this time Mia Ring firing wide from distance. However, with five minutes left of normal time, the hosts’ halved the deficit once again, Rowe guiding home a first-time effort from a pull-back into the middle of the box. That did create a nervous finish to the clash, but we managed to hold off a late comeback from Palace and earn an important three points in the league as we remain in the top four in the table.

"There are positives we can take further, especially that during a difficult and disappointing second-half, we were able to see out the win"

Reflecting on the victory over Palace, Jamal said: "Despite the result, and with our honest reflections, it wasn’t our best performance. We got off to a great start and, by half-time, we found ourselves in control with a three-goal lead. However, we were nowhere near the same standard in the second period and gave up two, from what I feel are avoidable, goals that come from our own mistakes in areas we know we need to be better in. There are positives we can take further, especially that during a difficult and disappointing second-half, we were able to see out the win and earn an important three points. Once again, our squad featured a number of Under-16s and they held their own until the very end. It's a result we can definitely build on for the rest of the month, but we know the performance can be even better."

Match data

Goals: Crystal Palace - Lee 53, Rowe 85; Spurs - Pierre 3, Breen 25, 43.

Yellow cards: Spurs - Bird 11.

Referee: Lydia Orsborn.

Venue: Cray Wanderers FC.

Weather: Sunny, eight degrees.