Rehanne Skinner hailed her side’s character and resilience as they earned a hard-fought point against rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Easter Sunday.
The point moves West Ham United closer to safety, with Skinner’s side now seven points clear of bottom club Bristol City.
The Hammers were the better side on the afternoon, with efforts from Riko Ueki, Emma Snerle and Honoka Hayashi all forcing smart saves from Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley.
And despite failing to pick up three points, Skinner was pleased with her side’s performance and believes there are plenty of positives to take ahead of an exciting run-in.
The boss shared her thoughts with West Ham TV at the full time whistle...
It's an important point for us
I thought we played well, overall. It was a really physical test and obviously we had to make sure we matched that throughout the game. They started better than us and put us under pressure early on in the game, but when we managed to find our feet a little bit and got a bit more aggressive on the press, something we spoke about at half-time, we started the second half much brighter.
On the balance of play, we had multiple chances and we’re a bit disappointed not to get three points out of it. I think Sophie Baggaley has made a fantastic save to keep one of the shots out from Hono [Honoka Hayashi], so you have to give her credit for that as well. The point is important, and the clean sheet is huge.
We showed character and resilience to get something out of the game
We were definitely more positive to take the chances on [in the second-half]. I just don’t think we really believed in it with some of the chances we had, and we probably could have been a bit more ruthless, but the way we moved the ball caused them a lot of problems. Most of the momentum in the second half was in our favour, apart from a little spell towards the end of the game.
I think it’s important when you get to that stage [of the match ending in a draw] that you show the character and resilience to see it [a point] out, still play with composure and make sure you get some points out the game.
A clean sheet is a massive positive
I think everyone put their bodies on the line and Macca [Mackenzie Arnold] said straight away in the huddle at the end of the game that everyone’s attitude and desire in and around the box is probably one of the best it has been in games. Things were flying in at us, but we maintained our composure and put our bodies on the line when needed and that is massively important.
We’ve got to keep the goal difference down. We’ve not had as many clean sheets as we would have liked this season, so that’s a real positive to take out of today.
Going again after the international break
The players go on international break now, so we want to hope that everyone comes back from that fit and fresh. We’ve got a friendly on 14 April behind closed doors to try and keep the players in the right position and ensure they’re ready for the next game.
