Durham narrowly miss out on a return to winning ways, with a heartbreaking last-gasp equaliser from the visitors.
In a cagey first half affair, it seemed either side were cautious to commit themselves to attacks, fearing the prospect of falling behind early doors. Goalscoring chances were scarce, with either side proving little threat to one another’s goalkeeper as the half time whistle closed in.
The first real chance of the fixture fell in the direction of the travelling Palace Women on the stroke of 22 minutes, with Cat Sheppard getting down quickly to claw away Justine Vanhaevermaet’s header, following a set piece routine.
Moments later, Durham found themselves in the opposition’s box, with Michaela Foster delivering a dangerous cross into the mixer, swung into Leyla McFarland, though her header was comfortably saved by Palace ‘keeper Jessica Shae Yanez.
The closest either side would come to breaking the first half deadlock would follow in the 38th minute, with Durham’s number 8 Mollie Lambert firing her effort just wide of the post from range.
Upon the initiation of the second half, either side seemed to find a newfound confidence about themselves, with Durham finding real threat on the counter.
But it was Crystal Palace who found themselves opening the scoring, or so they thought. Left unmarked in the middle following a game of football pinball, Palace managed to scramble the ball into the net, though the linesman’s flag was raised for offside, to silence the travelling fans’ celebrations.
With increasing pressure from the away side, peppering the Durham goal with ranging efforts, it was Durham that finally made it 1-0. Adding to her excellent start to the season, fan-favourite Beth Hepple netted her third of the 2025/26 campaign, nodding home Lauren Brigg’s excellent cross into the middle.
With four minutes added onto the clock after the completion of the 90 minutes, it seemed that Durham would finally return to winning ways, ending their drought.
But to no avail. Entering the dying seconds of the fixture, towering midfielder Justine Vanhaevermaet, deprived of her goal in the first half, fired the ball across goal towards Elise Hughes, who stroked the ball home to even the scoring.
A disappointing end result given the circumstances, but a performance to be proud of against a strong Crystal Palace side.