Manager Rehanne Skinner beamed from ear to ear as she praised her West Ham United women’s team for their London derby heroics against Tottenham Hotspur, hailing how clinical her side were in attack as well as their defensive resolve to keep another clean sheet.
The Hammers claimed the bragging rights in Sunday’s showdown with Spurs courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Chigwell Construction Stadium. Verena Hanshaw’s low drive deflected in off Josefine Rybrink to give the hosts the upper hand, and the points were sealed in second-half stoppage time when Viviane Asseyi’s teasing free-kick found the far corner.
The women’s team boss heaped praise on Hanshaw and Asseyi, who netted her tenth goal in all competitions, for their contributions in the game - not only for the goals but through their link-up play down the left-hand side, as the pair tormented Tottenham with their constant attacking drive.
The victory moved the Irons above their rivals in the Barclays Women’s Super League standings and chalked up another record-breaking moment in east London, as this is the most amount of home wins the Hammers have recorded in a single season.
As well as the quality on the pitch, the Hammers' form in Dagenham is also down to the constant, unwavering support from the Claret and Blue faithful in the stands.
Speaking in her post-match interview, Skinner alluded to how important the fans have been and how much their support drives her players on, as the West Ham family celebrated yet another memorable three points at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
I thought we were fantastic.
I'm delighted. I think for the players and all the hard work that they've put in today, I thought our performance was really good. Maybe in the first ten minutes we took a little bit of time to get going with the way that we were pressing, maybe [that’s because of the] time off we've had between games.
But as soon as we got past the tenth minute, we started to resolve some of those challenges. I thought we were fantastic, to be honest, in and out of possession, and scored some great goals today. A clean sheet in a London derby is fantastic for the fans.
I think in the second half we were much more committed in our attacking play because we were higher, and that enabled us to press higher. It helped us to get more success getting in behind. I felt like the goal was coming, and we defended really well as well.
Asseyi has been brilliant this season, and you can see she loves playing in the big games.
Already this is her best WSL season because she's scored six goals and got six assists, and I think she's been fantastic. The more the season's gone on, the more you've seen her qualities, and she loves the bigger games, and she wants to win all the time.
When you look at her work-rate going forward and the stuff she puts in when she's recovering and helping the team out, she's an important player, and I'm delighted for her to get on the score sheet again today.
Hanshaw attacks and links up with Asseyi really well.
Verena [Hanshaw] supported high up the pitch really well at times. She just knows, through a lot of experience, when and where to get involved in the attacking build-up.
When we changed the point of attack and found her in those wider areas, the connection that she and Vivi Asseyi have [is so good]. The way they just play off each other, there’s a lot of experience between the two of them.
The fans make a massive difference.
We love playing at home. Obviously, our fans have been superb again. I know people talk about the 12th player, but it makes a massive difference. It really feels like that throughout the course of the game, every time we looked to go forward, the fans were getting behind us.
It just changes the mood with the players as well, and their energy. I think that's really important. We're delighted to keep winning and setting home records in front of the fans. We've got another two home games left, and the fans are going to be really important.
