Charlton Athletic Women edged Leicester City 2-1 on penalties in The Play Off Presented by Mercedes-Benz to secure a place in the Barclays WSL next season.
In front of nearly 4,000 at The Valley, third-placed WSL 2 side Charlton edged past Leicester City, who finished bottom of the top flight, after a goalless 120+ minutes.
Emma Bissell fired wide of the far post as Charlton took control in the first half, but then Leicester came closest to scoring before the break.
Shannon O’Brien forced a sharp save from Sophie Whitehouse before the Addicks cleared the loose ball away from the six-yard box.
A triple substitution saw the Foxes step it up, and in the dying minutes Emily van Egmond went close from outside the box and Ashleigh Neville’s header was saved by Whitehouse.
In extra time, Katie Lockwood’s strike from outside the box was tipped onto the bar by Katie Keane, and Lucia Lobato headed in the rebound, but from an offside position, while O’Brien had an effort deflected wide and Heather Payne was denied by Whitehouse.
It all came down to a shoot-out, and Whitehouse astonishingly saved four penalties as Charlton won 2-1.
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