Paul Konchesky was pleased that West Ham United Women were able to find a way to win, as they came from behind to beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The Irons had to work hard to beat a stubborn Charlton side that were concluding their pre-season with the match at The Oakwood.
Heidi Logan had opened the scoring for the Addicks in the first half, but Yui Hasegawa stepped up in the second half, scoring just after the break and then again five minutes from time.
Her second, a wonderful free-kick that found the top corner gave Konchesky’s side a deserved victory over the Championship side.
It was another really good test for us
We know that Charlton are a week away from the beginning of the season so that was them at full tilt today – they gave us a really good game.
Apart from their goal, we were on top in the opening 25 minutes and we should have scored two or three goals with the chances we had.
Yui is a little magician
We know what she’s capable of and she’s playing with a massive smile on her face and that’s the most pleasing thing.
She’s been brilliant since I’ve taken charge and I’m looking forward to seeing her play in the WSL this season.
We tried a different shape in the second half
The personnel that we had on the pitch for the second half suited a different approach – we obviously lost Dagny, which meant we had to change things and I think the players did well.
We had more players causing them issues and getting into forward areas, which is how we got back into the game.
I saw a reaction from the team today
I wanted to see a better showing than what we saw last week in the defeat to Lewes and we got that.
I asked the players to do three things… To run around, to work hard and to find a way to win the game, and they’ve done that today.
I’m hoping that Dagný will be okay
She said she had a little bit of cramp in and around her quad – she joked that she’s never pulled a muscle in her life, so hopefully she will be okay.
We now look forward to the game against Liverpool
It’s going to be another tough game, but I’s a test we’re looking forward to. It will show us where we are at the moment.
The camp up in Loughborough gives us some time as a group to spend some more time together, and it’s important.
We will have another tough week of training before we head up on Friday, so it’s going to be another good week.
