Brentford Women 2 Dulwich Hamlet Reserves 0 | OneFootball

Two second half goals from Paula Holguin saw Brentford win 2-0 over Dulwich Hamlet Reserves in the LSE Division One North on Sunday afternoon.

An even contest saw the game go into half-time at 0-0 and Ashley Cheatley replaced by Holguin due to injury. The substitute made an incredible impact to the second half scoring twice after linking up with Chloe Logie to help her side to the win.

Karleigh Osborne’s side came into the game looking to make it nine straight wins after what has been an incredible start to the season.

It was a wet and windy day at Bedfont with the Bees playing into the wind in the opening half as the game proved to be a scrappy affair early on.

Nikki Woods who was deployed in her usual position in behind Chloe Logie and Ashley Cheatley came closest for the Bees inside the opening 20 minutes.

The forward drove through the heart of the Dulwich defence before making her way into the box only for her shot to go just wide of the right post.

Despite Brentford looking the more threatening side going forward, Dulwich sucked up the home side’s pressure well and nearly got themselves ahead just before the half hour mark.

A corner kick found the head of Mik Beynon who leaped well to make contact with the ball with her effort crashing off the bar.

Dulwich grew into the half and began pressing Brentford high up the pitch, Natalia Davica was next to come close, but Evie Witek made a smart save to stop her effort creeping in the near post.

Brentford perhaps has the best chance to get themselves in front in the opening half when Logie found Cheatley with an excellent through ball.

The striker used her pace to create a one on one with the Dulwich keeper, but her shot was cleared off the line by Cass Walcott.

The second half proved to be similar to the first as both sides had to settle for very few clear-cut opportunities.

Chloe Webb was finding a lot of space in the left wing-back position for the home side as the Bees looked to stretch Dulwich in the second half.

Dulwich defended well and dealt with the Brentford pressure in a strong but composed fashion frustrating the hosts for the majority of the second half.

Holguin replaced Cheatley due to an injury from Brentford’s top scorer in the first half.

The substitute came inches away from giving Brentford the lead when her shot from outside the box went just over the bar.

Brentford were eventually rewarded for all of their pressure, and it was Holguin who grabbed the goal on 73 minutes.

A clipped pass from Logie found the striker who smashed the ball home on the volley from inside the box.

The Bees doubled their lead with three minutes to play and it was Logie and Holguin who linked up again.

Another brilliant piece of play from Logie saw the stiker take on a Dulwich defender on the touch line before passing to Holguin who tapped in from close range.

The win sees Brentford go top of the table with four games in hand over second place Clapton Community.

Brentford Women: Witek, Englehard, Holmes, Logie, Webb (Graver, 66), Woods, Matthews (Aboul Kheir, 81’), Cheatley (Holguin,40’), Worsley, Read, Potter

Subs: Troth, Gbajabiamila

Dulwich Hamlet Reserves: West, Ilimey, Gall, Walcott, Smale, Stones, Hutchins, Beynon, Sessay, Davica, Woolin

Subs: Therdivison, Barnes, Addlison

Karleigh Osborne proud of his team’s performance

Brentford Women head coach Karleigh Osborne was full of praise for his side following their 2-0 win over Dulwich Hamlet Reserves.

He said: They gave us a good game and came with a clear game plan to try and put us off of by being physical, but I thought we dealt with that really well.

“We really rose to the occasion today, it’s important that we win these type of games if we want to earn promotion come the end of the season so I’m delighted.”

Paula Holguin came from the bench replacing Ashley Cheatley in the opening half with the striker going off due to injury.

Holguin made an incredible impact scoring two goals for the home side who went on to keep a clean sheet and seal the three points over their title rivals.

Talking on Holguin, Osborne said: "I’m so pleased for Paula, she has had to be patient in terms of getting opportunities but today she made the difference.

“We have a lot of depth this season and Paula, is an example of working hard and taking your chances when they come.”