22 November 2020

Women’s Championship round-up: Wilkinson penalty sends Sheffield United third as Blackburn edge past Coventry

Katie Wilkinson scored a first-half penalty as Sheffield United beat Charlton Athletic 1-0 at The Oakwood to move up to third in the Women’s Championship on Sunday afternoon.

The referee pointed to the spot as the match approached the half an hour mark when Lucy Watson was brought down inside the box.

Wilkinson made no mistake from 12 yards as she thumped the ball into the bottom corner to give the visitors the lead.

The Blades nearly doubled their advantage two minutes into the second half when Wilkinson’s effort clipped the post.

And Charlton almost made them pay in stoppage time but Beth Lumsden’s header towards the top corner was superbly stopped by an acrobatic dive from Sheffield United keeper Fran Kitching.

The victory for Neil Redfearn’s side ends a run of back-to-back defeats in the league as they move above Liverpool and just one point off Durham at the top of the table.

Elsewhere in the Women’s Championship, Blackburn also picked up a vital three points as they battled to a 1-0 win over Coventry United at the Butts Park Arena.

The decisive moment of the match came seven minutes after half-time when Saffron Jordan was fouled in the penalty area and Elise Hughes converted the spot kick for the only goal of the game.

The victory means Blackburn are now unbeaten in four league games as they move up to fifth, leapfrogging Lewes in the race for promotion.

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