Shania Hayles continued her superb start to the season by helping Bristol City to a 2-0 win at Charlton to stay top of the Women’s Championship.
Hayles has six goals in seven games for the Robins, adding to the firepower at Lauren Smith's disposal, as City were able to continue their evolution in Kent against an Addicks team that had the beating of them last season.
City lost both games to Charlton last term, as they were unable to counter their more direct tactics but at The Oakwood, Smith's side stuck to their game plan, kept their composure and were able to out-play and out-battle the hosts to stay unbeaten for the season.
"Thoroughly delighted again, we've done the business at both ends with two goals and then the clean sheet and going home with the three points, which is excellent," Smith said.
"Charlton were the team that took all the points off us last year so this was a big game for us because we know they come and disrupt games, they want to play long and we showed that we can get the ball down, deal with the long ball and go into the fight. We were excellent and created four or five clear cut chances ourselves.
"It was always difficult last year when we played against Charlton and they did exactly the same but we kept our head, kept our control and saw the game out to the very end. It's testament to the players that we weren't just trying to see the game out, we were pushing for a third."
Sian Rogers’ heroics in goal for Charlton only delayed Hayles’ opener, as a succession of corners eventually paid off. Defensive errors gave the Robins more chances in the second half which led to Ffion Morgan’s goal doubling the lead.
Rogers produced a superb save to deny Vicky Bruce halfway through the first half, and then came up with a double-save from the resulting corner.
The next corner was less well-dealt with - Rogers could only palm away Chloe Mustaki’s delivery, and Hayles smashed the loose ball home in the 24th minute for her sixth of the season.
Another Mustaki corner almost bore fruit a few minutes later, as it swung directly onto the bar. The pressure continued, with Morgan latching on to a wayward pass in the box with Rogers out of her goal, but Kiera Skeels blocked well.
A defensive mix-up early in the second half allowed Ella Powell to go through one-versus-one on the left, but Rogers was up to the task yet again.
In the 67th minute some more sloppy defending led to the league leaders’ second goal, as Skeels failed to clear a cross, allowing Morgan to come in and slot home.
Late Addicks pressure made the game more end-to-end, with City looking dangerous on the break but failing to net again.
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