Rehanne Skinner was elated with West Ham United women's team's 6-1 victory over Portsmouth in their opening Women's League Cup Group C fixture.
The victory saw four of Skinner's attacking players find the net, with Emma Harries and Viviane Asseyi bagging braces, whilst Seraina Piubel got off the mark in Claret and Blue, netting the first of the game. Riko Ueki scored her second goal of the week late on to round off a convincing victory for the Irons against lower league opposition.
The manager had said in her post-match assessment of the draw with Liverpool at the weekend that she would look to use the squad to it's fullest in the clash with Pompey, and she elected to make nine changes to the side.
This included handing first starts to summer signings Piubel, Oona Siren and Manuela Paví, as well as handing competitive debuts to Professional Game Academy players Ruby Doe, Marnie Morrison and Daniella Way.
All of them acquitted themselves well, and helped to produce a solid team performance that excited the Hammers fans in attendance at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Skinner gave high praise to her squad for the way that they performed, and hopes that the team can take the positive momentum from the result into Sunday's match against Manchester City when they return to Barclays Women's Super League action.
We’re delighted with the result tonight
Scoring six goals is fantastic for the team, and I think all of the goals were just such good team goals as well and were really well worked. I think we've finished them clinically, so that's really positive.
There were a lot of debuts tonight, young players on the pitch, and I think everybody's given such a good account of themselves. It’s what we wanted from the squad, to be able to make sure that they have an impact every time we play, and I think they've done a really good job tonight.
It’s a confidence boost for all the goalscorers
I think it was Vivi [Asseyi's] first touch when she scored her first, and Riko [Ueki's] obviously came on and had an impact and scored a goal as well from a set play. Emma [Harries'] runs and creating opportunities that she did were good. The header across the front post is just such a good finish as well. I think, for all of them, it's just a really good confidence boost.
I don't think we've had as many chances as we would have maybe liked in some of the games that we've had prior to now, but today was a great opportunity to try and get them off and running, and the team capitalised on those opportunities.
There's been a lot of people contributing from an assist perspective as well. I think just the attitude and desire from all the players today was fantastic, and we could have had a couple more as well, and I think that's just a really good space to be in for the whole team.
The young players gave a really good account of themselves
These are opportunities to make sure we utilise the whole squad. We talk all the time about everybody having an impact when you come on, making the most of whatever minutes you get and being able to have an impact in the game.
This was Halle's [Houssein's] first start for me, and Marnie [Morrison] and Ruby [Doe] started the game, while Daniella [Way] has come into the game as well in the later stages. Those young players have given a really good account of themselves today, and I think that's come from training with the first-team and learning and evolving. It's good to see them turning up and performing in a game like today and contributing to the team's performance.
It's important to build momentum ahead of our upcoming fixtures
I think it's great. We’ve had everyone on pitch over the course of these last three games, so that's really important, and I think it puts the squad in a good place, where you're actually able to see who's in good form and see who the best options are going into the game against Manchester City at the weekend.
Everybody knowing that they're contributing to the overall outcome of the team is a real positive. I'm delighted to have got them all on the pitch today, and I think everybody did a really good job.
The fans were fantastic tonight
I thought they were fantastic tonight, and everybody cheering was just great. We want six and we want seven were the type of chants we were getting, but we're just really pleased to be able to perform in front of our fans.
Having two home games this week has been great, so obviously we wanted to try and put in a performance for them tonight, and I hope they enjoyed it. They sounded like they did, so that's positive, and we're grateful for their support.
