Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 West Ham United women's team
Amex Stadium, Sunday 16 November 2024, 12.30pm GMT
After they fought back to level proceedings from 2-0 down, a late goal from Fran Kirby saw West Ham United women’s team cruelly suffer a 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion this afternoon.
The Hammers looked like they were on their way to recording a hard-earned point when skipper Katrina Gorry cancelled out goals from Kiko Seike and Rachel McLauchlan with a brace within the space of five second-half minutes, which saw the Hammers Captain net her first two goals for the Club from long range.
But the Australian international was withdrawn from the pitch through injury just minutes after levelling the contest, and moments later, Fran Kirby scored what proved to be the winning goal as she fired the ball home in at the near post with eight minutes to play.
The frantic, end-to-end nature of the second half countered what was a mostly uneventful first period, with both sides cagey in possession. The first shot on target came 18 minutes into the game, as Poppy Pattinson’s curling left-footed effort from outside the box was comfortably saved by Kinga Szemik.
The Poland international was then called upon two minutes later to brilliantly tip Nikita Parris’ near-post effort behind for a corner with a superb one-handed reflex stop.
While the hosts dominated the early shot statistics, the Hammers looked a threat on the counter attack. Anouk Denton slipped Riko Ueki through in the box but Brighton cleared their lines before the striker, who netted away at the Seagulls last term, could get her shot away.
However, just as West Ham were finding their feet in the contest, Brighton broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark. Following some neat build-up play, McLauchlan latched onto Kirby’s flick and curled the ball with her left foot beyond the dive of Szemik.
The Irons showed no signs of letting their heads drop and enjoyed a spell of possession on the edge of Brighton’s penalty area. Both Denton and Ueki worked space for crossing opportunities, but the hosts dealt with the deliveries.
As the first half came to a close, the Seagulls threatened to double their advantage when Kirby, after playing a one-two with Vicky Losada, saw her curling effort from close range deflect out for a corner.
The start of the second period yielded half-chances for both sides before the Hammers worked their best chance of the contest. After intricate work between Oona Siren and Seraina Piubel, Gorry stood up a cross for Ueki to attack, but the forward’s header looped into the grateful grasp of Sophie Baggaley.
Rehanne Skinner’s side continued to push for an equaliser and saw another chance go begging as Ueki’s headed knock-down was agonisingly turned over by Piubel from close range. This came minutes before Seike’s bobbling effort trickled into the far corner to put the Seagulls two ahead.
The Hammers could have let their heads drop, but just three minutes later, they pulled a goal back as Gorry, who had just seen a shot crash off the bar, arrowed a strike from distance into the bottom corner.
Then, West Ham and Gorry were in dreamland as the Irons’ skipper, again from outside the box, fired the ball home at the near post to bring Skinner’s outfit level in a dramatic turn of events.
It looked for all the world that the momentum would swing in the Hammers’ favour, but they were dealt a blow when Gorry, on a hat-trick, was forced off through injury. The tides then turned again as with eight minutes remaining, England international Kirby struck past Szemik from inside the box to condemn the visitors to a cruel defeat on the south coast.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Baggaley, McLauchlan, Bergsvand, Olislagers, Seike, Losada (Cankovic 74), Symonds, Pattinson, Kirby, Parris (Bremer 93), Haley (Agyemang 74)
Subs: Poulter, Loeck, Rayner, Vilamala
West Ham United: Szemik, Denton, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Smith (Cooke 91), Siren, Gorry © (Brynjarsdóttir 74), Piubel, Paví (Harries 92), Asseyi, Ueki
Subs: M. Walsh (GK), Sáez,, Bergman Lundin, Houssein, S. Walsh, Doe
Booked: Asseyi, Zadorsky
