Tower Hamlets have fallen to a battling defeat against Premier League South giants Charlton in the London Women's Cup

By JONATHAN CLEGG

Tower Hamlets fell to a battling defeat against Premier League South giants Charlton Athletic in the London Women's Cup on Sunday - but Cows boss Desmond Moreira insists his side proved a point to their illustrious opponents.

In the biggest match of the club's history, Tower Hamlets held former FA Cup winners Charlton to a one-goal lead for almost an hour at Victoria Park and a remarkable giant-killing remained on the cards until fatigue took its toll in the final half hour.

Goals from Natalie Crinean, Ellie Stenning and Kim Holden, added to a Tower Hamlets' own-goal, ultimately saw the Addicks record a 4-0 win to reach the cup semi-finals.

But Cows manager Moreira hailed his Tower Hamlets side for a spirited display that frustrated Charlton for long periods.

He said: "I don't think they expected us to put up such a fight. They dominated possession but after a shaky start, we defended well.

"Charlton tried to play through us but we reduced them to playing long-ball football, which is a measure of our success. We stuck to our game plan and they started to get frustrated."

Charlton had flashed their quality in the opening exchanges and duly made the breakthrough after seven minutes when Crinean chipped the ball over Cows keeper Sabrina Samuel.

Yet fears that the opening goal would spark a Charlton onslaught proved unfounded as the Addicks failed to break down the home side's determined defence and the Cows trailed by just a single goal at half-time.

Charlton brought on former England Under-19 international Kim Holden after the restart in a bid to avoid an embarrassing slip-up but it took another 15 minutes for the Addicks to build a comfortable lead as Stenning netted after an hour and an own-goal increased the advantage minutes later.

Holden sealed the outcome five minutes from time with a close-range finish but Moreira insists the battling display was evidence of the club's potential for future seasons.

He said: "For the club it was a massive achievement to compete with Charlton. But we should really be playing at a higher level and hopefully we can use this as a springboard.

"We're always looking for players and if we can add to the squad, we can really kick on next season.