'Star of the show' - Whitehouse's penalty masterclass sends Charlton to WSL

Charlton earn WSL promotion after Whitehouse penalty heroics

When goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse walked into the media room, wearing glitter, heart-shaped sunglasses with "SW#1" written on them, her manager Karen Hills had one phrase.

Charlton's number one was exactly that as her heroics helped secure the club a spot in the Women's Super League for the first time in their history.

It was the first-ever play-off tie, with second-tier side Charlton coming up against the WSL's bottom club Leicester City and it went to the wire, needing a penalty shootout to separate the teams.

Having made stunning saves during the previous 120 minutes, it was no surprise to see Whitehouse produce four stops in the shootout.

When she dived to her bottom left to save Noemie Mouchon's deciding penalty - the area she had marked on her water bottle in preparation - her team-mates sprinted across the pitch in celebration as a roar erupted from The Valley stands.

Charlton had made it and Whitehouse was, as Hills said, the 'star of the show'.

"I don't even know what to say. It was the craziest thing ever. I just thought 'I need to save it' and that's what I did I guess," Whitehouse told BBC Sport.

"We pushed to the last minute and to the end of the game. Those are the moments I've been working for.

"We've been practising penalties for weeks and once it got to that moment, I knew we could do it."

Sophie Whitehouse won the WSL 2 Golden Glove award

If the previous 120 minutes had felt lacklustre, despite stunning saves from Whitehouse to deny Shannon O'Brien and Ashleigh Neville, the shootout was far from it and turned into a chaotic few moments.

With each Whitehouse save, chants roared from the home fans and manager Hills was jumping in the air, barely able to contain her anxiety.

At one point, Whitehouse's precious bottle - full of instructions drawn onto it - was thrown into the stands, only to be retrieved by a member of Charlton's staff, later revealed to be called Billy.

Whitehouse frantically read over the markings when it was thrown back over as the clock ticked on, and she took a yellow card for time-wasting with Leicester's Olivia McLoughlin made to wait to take her penalty.

Ironically, that was the only spot kick Whitehouse didn't save as McLoughlin's effort squeezed under the crossbar and into the top netting.

"For some reason my bottle disappeared," Whitehouse joked afterwards when asked if opposition goalkeeper Katie Keane had tried to throw it away.

"I don't know where it went... but luckily someone behind the stands scrambled to get it. I might have had information in that moment to help me. I can't tell you my secrets!

"Thanks Billy for getting my bottle back! I had to retrieve the bottle, that's why I got a yellow card, but it was worth it.

"It's safely hidden in the dressing room now. I might actually get it out and put it on my wall."

Whitehouse revealed she had set herself three objectives at the start of the season - to remain consistent, to win the Golden Glove and to help Charlton gain promotion.

As she sat next to her manager, glowing with pride and a bottle of champagne in view, Whitehouse realised she had achieved everything she had hoped.

On Monday, she was awarded the Golden Glove for her eight clean sheets throughout the campaign and this result was the cherry on top.

"That's all I was striving for this season. In every game I wanted to do everything I could to make sure we could do it, and we did. I'm so proud," added Whitehouse.

"The staff prepare us for those moments, so I felt ready. When we got to the shootout I was just in the zone.