West Ham 5-2 Crystal Palace - turning point for Hammers?

Meetings between sides at the bottom of the table are often cagey, but this game was anything but.

West Ham came into this game 11th in the table, ahead of Palace only on goal difference. Before kick-off no ever-present team in the WSL since the start of last season had conceded more goals (59) or scored fewer (26) than Rehanne Skinner's side.

It looked like West Ham's dismal form would continue when Palace raced into an early two-goal lead, but the Hammers showed great fight and determination to turn things around before half-time.

Their position in the standings makes it easy to forget that this is a team with real quality, particularly in the attacking department.

If Viviane Asseyi and her fellow attackers continue to score goals and Skinner can get her defence to tighten up, then West Ham really should be looking to establish themselves in mid-table and maybe even push into the top six.

With the mid-way point of the season fast approaching and with a goal difference six goals worse than any other side, Palace really need to stop shipping goals if they want to avoid a immediate return to the Championship.