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But the Australian international was withdrawn from the pitch through injury just minutes after levelling the contest, and moments later, Fran Kirby scored what proved to be the winning goal as she fired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
Skinner: We deserved something from the game
Manager Rehanne Skinner hailed her side’s character in their clash at Brighton & Hove Albion this afternoon, stating she felt they deserved something from the match at the Amex Stadium.
West Ham United women’s team fell to a narrow 3-2 loss on the south coast, in a game that saw them fight from two goals down to level proceedings after two stunning strikes from Captain Katrina Gorry – her first goals for the Club.
But Fran Kirby's 82nd-minute strike snatched a point away from the Irons.
“It’s really difficult to take,” said Skinner, following her side’s loss in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
“I think when you look at the balance of the performance, I thought we were the better side for most of it and we deserved something out of the game. I think the character we showed to come from 2-0 down was superb and, in the second half in particular, we had so many good chances.
“That’s the disappointing part for everybody. We’ve had two great one-on-ones, an opportunity where we’ve hit the crossbar and obviously Mini’s scored two spectacular goals.
“When you put yourself in that position, you really hope you’re going to get something out of the game. You think you’ve done enough.
“It was difficult to take today, but, again, I think the positives are that the performances are improving week by week. Again, in possession I think we were very good and really threatening going forward, finding good pockets of space.
“I thought we exploited them in the areas that we wanted to, so I thought the players did a really good job of breaking them down. It’s a really difficult one to take but overall, I think we should be really pleased with what we’ve done today.”
Following her quick-fire brace, Gorry was withdrawn from the pitch through injury and Skinner revealed her Captain will need a ‘proper medical assessment’ to find out the full extent of the injury.
But her substitution will not take away from her first goals in Claret & Blue, that Skinner said were fully deserved.
“She does a lot of work in training to refine some of the timing of some of her striking, and I think that showed today,” she said.
“When she’s got the opportunity, she comes to life and she’s been superb in all of the work that she’s done for the Club so far this season, and long may it continue.”
The team were once again backed by terrific travelling support at the Amex Stadium, and they will hope to carry the side to a victory in the Women’s League Cup at London City next Sunday.
“We’re so grateful for the support and everywhere we go, it doesn’t matter where we are up and down the country, the fans have been great and the numbers are growing all of the time,” said Skinner.
“We want to keep playing the football we’re playing because the feedback we’re getting from the fans is that they’re loving the style of play, and how we’re trying to go about things.
“We fight for everything, and the players have given a really good account of themselves today. We keep fighting, we’ll come again in the League Cup and then we’ve got two more league games that we want to get points out of before the Christmas break.”
Siren: I'm proud we fought until the end
Midfielder Oona Siren was proud of her side’s fighting spirit in this afternoon’s narrow loss at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Her West Ham United women’s team showed superb character and determination to come from 2-0 down to level the fixture within a matter of second-half minutes at the Amex Stadium, but were undone by Fran Kirby’s goal late in the game.
“Of course, the result was really disappointing because I feel like we had a chance to take points from this game, but there were a lot of positives in our performance,” said the Finland international.
“I’m really proud of our team that we came back to score two goals. We’re disappointed that they scored at the death, but I’m proud that we fought until the end.
“The fans are great and the atmosphere was great. The fans are really giving us a lot of energy."
For the fifth WSL fixture in a row, Siren started the game alongside skipper Katrina Gorry, who netted both of the Hammers’ goals, and the 23-year-old was delighted for her midfield partner to get off the mark in Claret & Blue.
“I think both of the goals were great from Mini, she really deserves to score those goals,” said Siren. “I’m really happy for her.
“I think she’s a really great player and I really enjoy playing with her.”
