Another trip to the north east lies ahead of Charlton Athletic Women and the Addicks will be hoping for a similar result to two weeks ago.
That match saw Charlton beat Durham 2-1 and the second half performance raised expectations amongst some in the fanbase. Those expectations fell sharply in last weekend’s drab 0-0 fixture with previously pointless Ipswich Town. The visitors showed more fight and desire while Charlton’s midfield pairing were virtually non existent and the 343 formation that Karen Hills is deploying is yet to truly prove effective. Once again, Charlotte Newsham provided a bright spark but one spark does not make a fire. Janis Chime made her second appearance in a row from the bench and must surely be challenging for a starting berth as her desire to get stuck in and challenge for the ball is particularly noticeable.
Last weekend's fixture was preceded by a minutes silence for Matt Beard, the former Liverpool manager who coached at Charlton early in his career and Karen Hills spoke very fondly of him with the club after the match.
Onto this weekend's challenge - Newcastle United. Many expect the Magpies to be challenging near the top of the WSL 2 following a strong fifth placed finish last time out and with strong financial backing. They have started the season with a win, a draw and last week's 4-2 defeat at Birmingham City. Newcastle have often deployed a 352 which will make the battle in the middle of the park crucial, Hills will be hoping for her wingers and wing backs to create overloads to challenge the defence.
The gap between WSL and WSL2 was starkly in evidence on Wednesday evening as Charlton lost in the League Cup 1-5 at home to West Ham. Meanwhile, Sunderland lost 0-5 at Liverpool; Ipswich lost 1-5 at home to Leicester and Crystal Palace were beaten 1-2 by London City Lionesses. Newcastle didn't do any better - losing at WSL newcomers Forest 1-2.
As with all WSL 2 fixtures this season, if you aren’t making the trip to Gateshead you can tune in on YouTube.
Photo by Rhea Spencer-Newell