Chichester ladies delight in getting the better of Pompey

The FA WPL Premier South victory, just a couple of weeks after the sides had drawn in their first league meeting, saw the green army go back above their rivals in the table and send the home support home jubilant. If front of a record crowd of 290, Chichester started brightly with Alex Collighan making her full home debut playing just behind Cherelle Khassal. Approaching the half-hour Chichester got their noses in front. Pompey failed to deal with a corner and Jess Lewry was in the right place to slam home a shot from around 12 yards. Minutes later the home faithful were even happier as Khassal gleefully doubled the Chichester lead with a sweet finish. This time the striker found an opening on the edge of the area and fired in a shot that flew past keeper Robyn Levett and into the bottom corner. The home fans erupted but knew Pompey were bound to come back strongly. It took the visitors only around a minute to get back into it when Samantha Quayle beat the offside trap and slotted confidently past Chichester keeper Sadie Wilson-Blakely. Chichester needed a reaction and both Khassal and Lewry went close to restoring the two-goal advantage before half-time. The hosts went for the jugular in trying to wrap up the game and just over five minutes into the second half they sent their support wild with a third. The impressive Holly Wride swept in a free-kick from the left and Jenna Fowlie rose to power a header into the roof of the net. To their credit, Pompey kept going. On the hour Collighan was narrowly over with a shot from close range for Chichester and Molly Clark had a long-range effort well saved by Sadie Wilson-Blakely. Chichester brought on Jade Widdows and Gemma Simmonds to bolster their defence. With time running out, Pompey were given a lifeline with a penalty after a foul on Gemma Hillier, but the spot-kick was fired wide by Shannon Sievwright. The Blues surged on and, in injury time, Shannon Albuery rose to power home an excellent header to make it 3-2. Chichester locked up the shop and saw out time to spark great celebrations at a famous win. CCLFC: S Wilson-Blakely, Cheshire, Ingram, Alexandre, Wride, Fowlie, Khassal, Tucker, Ryan Lewry, Collighan. Subs: Simmonds, Widdows, Taylor, Paul, Shine. Get all the latest from the Chi Ladies camp - plus the rest of the local football - in the Observer, out on Thursday