There were plenty of reasons for celebration for Kinga Szemik coming out of Saturday’s Barclays Women’s Super League draw with third-place Manchester United.
The Poland stopper was in imperious form at Chigwell Construction Stadium, producing five stops from Elisabeth Terland, Leah Galton, Ella Toone, Celin Bizet and Melvine Malard to keep the visitors at bay and register a fourth clean sheet of the season.
Understandably, Szemik was delighted to pick up a second clean sheet in three matches, and was quick to praise her colleagues after recording a shut-out, insisting that the players in front of her were at their very best to shut down the Red Devils and help her earn the clean sheet.
“We're very happy, to be honest,” Szemik beamed. “We had a plan coming into the game. We played a little bit differently than usual, and that really frustrated them (Manchester United).
“That was the goal, and we're very proud of the team because we played until the last minute. We had some situations to score, which obviously is a little bit frustrating for us as well because we do feel like we can win games like this, but we will stay humble and appreciate the one point.
“That’s awesome [to keep a second clean sheet in three matches], but I'm just one factor. The whole team works for that, so I'm just thankful that the girls were really supportive today as well.
“I think playing Chelsea before this game was good, ironically, because we were kind of prepared for what happened today, that they could score from anywhere, and the girls did a really good job because they didn't leave them space.
“The marking was really, really good in the box, and they really minimised my job in the goal.
“There were a few deliveries into the box that the defenders dealt with really well, so it’s a team effort.
“The defenders basically put their bodies on the line, but this is how much we care, and this shows how much we're willing to sacrifice anything to not get scored against and record clean sheets.
“I'm super proud of the girls, and this just shows that we keep on growing, and I just hope that in the next game we'll be able to get the three points.”
The Hammers have now amassed a points tally of 20, having turned Dagenham into a fortress this season. Eighteen of our 20 points have come at home, with only the top four teams boasting a better home record.
Rehanne Skinner's side have now lost just twice in ten home matches, going unbeaten in their past five, and conceded just 12 goals, while they have lost just once in their last five, having faced all of the current top four in that period.
And Szemik is adamant the stalemate is another signal of the progress the Hammers have made in recent months.
“I feel like we finally are in this point of the season where I feel like we enter the games and we're there to win it, and it doesn't matter who we're playing against,” Szemik added. “That's something we've had to fight really hard for - to have the confidence within ourselves.
“You can feel it playing on the pitch that there is a trust and communication that was maybe lacking a little bit at the beginning of the season, but now we are playing as a collective, and recent results show that.”
