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Alex Hennessy scored deep into second half stoppage time as Charlton Athletic beat Coventry United 1-0 at The Oakwood on Sunday. Both sides had chances before the late winner with Sian Rogers producing a fantastic save early in the second half to stop a Coventry effort. The visitors can maybe feel a bit unlucky not to come away with a point.

Karen Hills named the same starting 11 for Charlton that had beaten AFC Wimbledon 5-1 in the FA Cup in their last match. Lee Burch made three changes for Coventry from their FA Cup win over Hashtag United with Khiara Keating, Megan Alexander and Merrick Will coming in for Jodie Whiteman, Hayley Hoare and Olivia Rabjohn.

It was a sunny but cool afternoon with the pitch looking a bit dry in places. The first real chance didn’t come until 15 minutes into the match but Ella Rutherford couldn’t get enough on her shot and it was saved by Keating. Another 10 minutes passed before the next talking point when Charlton appealed loudly for a penalty after the ball looked to hit a Coventry United defenders hand. The referee and assistant instead gave a corner. From the corner, Ross saw her header saved.

The Addicks next chance came in the 32 nd minute when Keating pushed away a shot from Angela Addison before Freda Ayisi’s effort from the rebound was blocked. Coventry’s first chances came a few minutes later when Mary McAteer saw her effort blocked by a Charlton defender. From the resulting corner, Freya Thomas sent a shot over from the edge of the area.

At the other end a minute later, Melissa Johnson put a shot across goal. Two minutes before half time, Rutherford put in a nice cross for the home side that was just missed by Emily Simpkins before Ayisi put the ball wide at the far post. The visitors had the last opportunity of the first half in stoppage time but the ball bounced straight into Rogers’ hands.

Coventry had the first chance of the second half just over five minutes into it. Eleanor Ryan-Doyle’s shot took a deflection and Rogers made a brilliant save to tip the ball over as it was heading into the top corner. Jodie Bartle saw an effort saved from the resulting corner.

In the 57 th minute, Rutherford had a shot that was saved easily by Keating. As she shot, the Charlton player went down injured and received lengthy treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off. We wish Ella Rutherford a full and speedy recovery.

The next opportunity came in the 73 rd minute for Coventry when Ebony Wiseman’s shot was blocked then there was a scramble on the line before play was stopped due to an injury to Rogers.

Ayisi was played through for the home side in the 81 st minute but as she tried to go round Keating, the Coventry United goalkeeper got a slight touch on the ball then a couple of shots were blocked before the danger was cleared.

Rogers made two more saves in the final ten minutes or so to deny Coventry. First she kept out a close-range effort from Morgan Cross and then saved a shot from Isobel Goodwin.

12 minutes of stoppage time were signalled and in the seventh minute of them Charlton scored. A long ball forward found Ayisi in the penalty area who passed back to Hennessy and she finished first time low into the corner of the net from about 12-yards.

There was time for a couple of Charlton players to be shown yellow cards but no more opportunities

for Coventry to equalise as it finished 1-0 to the Addicks. Charlton have now won eight times in a row in all competitions.

The win sees Charlton remain in fifth place in the Championship, five points behind current leaders

London City Lionesses. Coventry United are still bottom of the league and five points behind Sheffield United. This coming Sunday, Charlton are away to Sheffield United whilst Coventry are at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Line ups:

Charlton Athletic: Rogers, Roe, N’Dow, Skeels, Henson, Simpkins (c) (Bruton 57’), Ross, Rutherford (Follis 63’), Ayisi, Johnson, Addison (Hennessy 84’)

Unused substitutes: Gray, Soper, Logan, Roche, O’Rourke

Goal – Hennessy 90’+7

Booked – Ross, Rogers, Bruton

Coventry United: Keating, Mann, Bartle (c) (Cross 86’), Will, Alexander, Thomas, Morris (Green 70’), Wiseman,

McAteer, Ryan-Doyle, Jones (Goodwin 70’)

Unused substitutes:Orthodoxou, Jhamat, Dudley-Jones, Whipp, Rabjohn, Whiteman

Booked – Ryan-Doyle

Referee – Adewunmi Soneye

Attendance - 556