- West Ham United Ladies fell to a 6-1 defeat at Crystal Palace Ladies on Sunday afternoon
- Loss dropped the Hammers to the bottom of the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division
- Greg de Carnys's team will seek to bounce back at Swindon Town Ladies this coming weekend
West Ham United Ladies unwittingly emulated their male counterparts by falling to defeat by a five-goal margin at the weekend.
The Hammers were beaten 6-1 at Crystal Palace Ladies in the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division at Bromley FC on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles went a goal up inside two minutes when Gemma Bryan tapped home, before further goals from Roschelle Shakes and Ciara Sherwood made it 3-0 by half-time.
While the scoreline was not in favour of Greg de Carnys’s side, they were creating chances of their own, with Julie Melfald shooting wide and Whitney Locke being denied by the legs of Palace goalkeeper Chanelle Yardley before also firing wide of the target.
Into the second half and it was the visitors who continued to pass up opportunities to reduce the deficit, with Yardley saving from Chloe Burr.
West Ham were punished on 54 minutes, when Bryan added her second, catching out goalkeeper Latoya Smith with a shot from an acute angle.
Burr finally got the Hammers’ reward for their efforts with 25 minutes remaining, scoring with a superb lob over Yardley and into the Palace net.
However, the joy was short-lived as Byran completed her hat-trick with a clinical finish, and the striker could have added more to her personal tally had it not been for a fine save from Smith.
At the other end, Burr’s long-range strike was tipped onto the crossbar by Yardley, who later made another fine save from the goalscorer.
However, Palace had the final say when Shakes scored her second of the game and the home side’s sixth with three minutes of the 90 remaining.
Defeat dropped West Ham to the bottom of the table below Queens Park Rangers Ladies on goal difference.
However, the Hammers will climb above Swindon Town Ladies if they can win at Shrivenham FC this coming Sunday 15 January, when kick-off is set for 2pm.