Emma Harries was understandably buzzing at the full-time whistle on Wednesday evening.
The 21-year-old had just netted her first goal for West Ham United, helping the team to come from a goal down to beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 at Chigwell Construction Stadium, thus picking up a win in their opening group-stage fixture in the Continental Tyres League Cup.
Carla Humphrey had given the Addicks the lead after 20 minutes as the Hammers started slow on a wet evening in east London. After the 30 minute mark, the team in Claret and Blue started to find their rhythm, which they continued after the break.
Harries then popped up with her goal after a scramble in the penalty area, levelling the game at 1-1 just before the hour mark.
Izzy Atkinson then fizzed in an eventual winner on 77 minutes, to make sure that Rehanne Skinner’s team picked up all three points in their first Conti Cup match of the season.
Harries was pleased to be off the mark in Claret and Blue, and reflected on the victory with West Ham TV after the game…
We controlled the game in the latter stages.
We were a little bit slow for the first 20 minutes but we showed what we’re about in terms of fighting right until the end.
I thought, for our standards, we were a little bit sloppy in possession, but we took the mentality that we could come out and change the game in the second half and we definitely did that.
We found a way to win by working hard, which I think is part of our identity here at West Ham. We had players coming on and making a difference. Izzy came on and scored a really great goal.
We’re a family unit here, and we fought until the very end to make sure we got the points.
We definitely fixed things that weren’t quite going our way in the first half.
We spoke at half-time about making sure that we showed what we were about. In the first half, you probably couldn’t tell what our identity was, and the player took full accountability for that.
We wanted to change things going into that second half and we definitely did that for the better.
It’s an amazing feeling to get my first goal for the Club.
As a striker, it’s always nice to score the goals, I probably could have had another one too! Bless Hawa [Cissoko], in the build up she smashed herself against the post, and after the ball came back to me, I was there at the right time to make sure I got the ball over the line!
I’m pleased that we’ve won tonight, and hopefully I’ll be able to get more goals moving into the future to help the team win matches.
The recovery and preparations for Chelsea start now.
We’re fully focused on getting back to WSL action against Chelsea now. It’s great that we’ve got two wins under our belt heading into the game.
We’re looking forward to tackling them head on and seeing what happens on Saturday.
