By Greg Stobart - Sunday, 25 April, 2010
Chelsea defeat Leeds Carnegie 2-0 in FA Women's Premier League.
Chelsea Ladies 2-0 Leeds Carnegie
The FA Tesco Women's Premier League
2pm, Sunday 25 April 2010Chelsea Ladies moved up to second in The FA Tesco Women's Premier League with a convincing 2-0 home victory over Leeds Carnegie.
The two teams are fighting for places around the top of the table and Chelsea leapfrogged Leeds thanks to first-half goals from Claire Rafferty and Ann-Marie Heatherson.
The sides went into the game level on 40 points and challenging leaders Arsenal, who scraped past Doncaster Belles with a 2-1 on Sunday to establish a five point lead at the summit.
The tight nature of the League is summed up by the way Leeds have now slipped from first to fourth in the space of eight days after two successive defeats.
Matt Beard, the Chelsea manager, will be delighted that his side have now done the double over Leeds although their realistic title chances this season were damaged by inconsistency. Chelsea not only lie five points behind Arsenal, but they have also played three games more than the reigning champions.
The hosts opened the scoring through Rafferty’s powerful header in the 26th minute from an inviting Casey Stoney cross.
They doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time when Heatherson bundled the ball home after taking advantage of confusion in the visiting defence.
Chelsea stood firm defensively after the break to secure a well-deserved three points and complete a miserable week for Leeds Carnegie.
Round-upArsenal are on course for a seventh consecutive Women’s Premier League title after they won 2-1 at Doncaster Rovers Belles on Sunday.
The victory means they still hold a five point advantage over second-placed Chelsea at the top of the League.
An own-goal by Chelsea Weston proved decisive as the Gunners nicked a vital three points from a scrappy encounter. Jennifer Beattie had given Arsenal the lead in the 13th minute before Weston diverted the ball into her own net on 26 minutes. Precious Hamilton's strike for the Belles six minutes from time caused Arsenal nerves to jangle but they held on for a battling victory.
Elsewhere, a hat-trick from Natasha Dowie inspired Everton to a crushing 5-0 victory over Bristol Academy. Dowie took her total for the season to 25, while Jill Scott added the other two strikes to keep Everton in pole position for Champions League football next season and condemn Bristol to their ninth defeat from their last ten League matches.
Sunderland ended a run of five defeats in a row with a 3-0 win at Blackburn Rovers. Jordan Nobbs, Kelly McDougall and Demi Stokes grabbed the goals for the one-time League leaders.
Finally, Birmingham captain Kerys Harrop scored the only goal of the game four minutes from time as they secured a 1-0 home win over Nottingham Forest.
POS | TEAM | | HOME | AWAY | OVERALL | GD | PTS |
P | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A |
1 | Arsenal LFC | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 14 | 49 | 48 |
2 | Everton LFC | 18 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 60 | 14 | 46 | 43 |
3 | Leeds Carnegie LFC | 19 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 48 | 12 | 36 | 43 |
4 | Chelsea LFC | 20 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 55 | 26 | 29 | 43 |
5 | Sunderland WFC | 21 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 33 | 35 | -2 | 34 |
6 | Doncaster Rovers Belles LFC | 21 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 36 | -2 | 31 |
7 | Millwall Lionesses LFC | 22 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 24 | 43 | -19 | 21 |
8 | Blackburn Rovers LFC | 17 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 23 | 38 | -15 | 17 |
9 | Birmingham City LFC | 20 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 36 | -16 | 16 |
10 | Watford LFC | 20 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 41 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 58 | -36 | 16 |
11 | Nottingham Forest LFC | 17 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 38 | -25 | 13 |
12 | Bristol Academy WFC | 20 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 55 | -45 | 9 |