SOUTHAMPTON Saints felt hard done by after yesterday's 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division.

Having been on the end of some tough tackling and verbal abuse from the south Londoners for most of the game, it was Saints who had two players sent off in the second half!

Skipper Sam Howarth was the first to go for shirt tugging when she was the last defender.

Palace capitalised by scoring amid a mix-up from a corner and then Saints midfielder Sophie Kingsley-Smith was also shown red for a mis-timed tackle which, in manager Sue Lopez's book, was far from malicious.

Lopez said: "Our girls were getting hammered out there, verbally and physically, and yet we had two sent off.

"Sam's a former England international and a model professional in all, but the fact is that she doesn't get paid and the rest of them are basically kids."

The bright note for Saints was the return of Isle of Wight midfielder Gemma Woodford from Fulham. The 18-year-old marked her comeback by hitting the the bar with a free-kick.