Defender Lucy Jones took over in goal for Chatham Town Women in their 3-0 win over Cambridge United after Abby Baravik was sent off after just two minutes

Chatham Town Women had their keeper sent off after just two minutes but beat Cambridge United 3-0 with an outfield player in goal.

Abby Baravik was sent off shortly after kick-off against Cambridge, following a challenge outside the box on a home forward, one which was deemed worthy of a straight red card.

Defender Lucy Jones went in goal and was unsurprisingly presented with the player-of-the-match award after keeping a clean sheet.

Sunday’s match against Cambridge was a rearranged clash. The original fixture in early November had been abandoned after a bad injury to a home player.

Chats were 2-0 down that day when play was halted. An air ambulance landed on the pitch to deal with an injury to Brooke Cheal-Ferris. She’d suffered a triple leg break and an ankle dislocation.

Things didn’t start well for Chats, who had manager Keith Boanas back on the bench, after illness forced him to miss the previous week’s 6-1 victory over London Bees.

Commenting on the latest win, Boanas wrote on X: “Outstanding character, determination and a full-on individual and team effort, hearts on sleeves [for] 88 minutes [with] ten players and a left-back in goal. Immense all of them.”

This was another game Chats dare not lose, in a bid to keep the heat on the leading two teams at the top of the National League Division 1 South East table.

Baravik’s early dismissal led to outfield player Jones taking over in goal. Her first job was to take a catch from Cambridge’s free-kick, which had come as a result of the foul.

Chatham then took an 11th-minute lead through Ellie Perkins, and with 20 on the clock, it was 2-0 to the visitors when Amy Russ netted.

Jones tipped an effort over the bar to keep the clean sheet intact, and before the break, Chatham