Albion Women are back to winning ways following a thrilling 3-2 win over West Ham United, which moves Jay Lovett’s side up into third place.Goals from Lily Agg, Kim Stenning and Cherelle Khassal completed the victory, ending a run of three league games without a win.
The Seagulls started the game brightly, as Charlotte Gurr forced an early save from keeper Toni-Anne Wayne after outrunning Hammers full-back Vicky King.
Stenning then delivered a deadly ball into the box into the path of Lucy Somes, who narrowly failed to make a decent connection. Albion’s top scorer then had her own chance to break the deadlock, but Wayne was equal to her low drive.
Lovett’s side continued to dominate the early stages of the match, as Wayne made a superb double save to deny both Stenning and Gurr from close-range.
But the deadlock was eventually broken in the 29th minute, thanks to Agg’s powerful shot from just outside the area which proved too hot to handle for Wayne.
This acted as a wake-up call for United, who became more threatening on the counter-attack; Rebecca Merritt created a decent shooting opportunity, only to see her effort rise narrowly over the bar.
It was Merritt who equalised for the Irons just six minutes after Agg’s opener, when her looping drive caught out keeper Lucy Mangan and sailed into the net, leaving the sides level going into half-time.
Albion were immediately on the front foot after the interval, as substitute Khassal struck the post within moments of the restart, before Ryan had a pop from distance which went wide of the target.*
But it was West Ham who struck again, with April Bowers ending a lovely move by coolly side-footing her shot beyond Mangan nine minutes into the second-half.
The Seagulls responded almost immediately to the setback, when Tammy Waine saw her header hit the crossbar from Kirsty Barton’s corner.
It did not take too long for Albion to bring parity to the scoreline, as Agg’s surging run down the right-hand side led to a perfectly weighted ball for Stenning to slot home just past the hour-mark.
The decisive third goal was scored by Khassal in the 76th minute, after she guided Sophie Perry’s ball into the box past Wayne and secured a morale-boosting victory for Lovett’s team.
He told Seagulls.co.uk, “Today’s win was very important as it moves us up into third place.
“Last week’s performance against Spurs acted as a motivation for the girls; they were disappointed with themselves and wanted to put that right, which showed in today’s performance.”
*
Albion: (4-4-2) Mangan (GK); Cheshire (James 75), Ryan (c), Waine, Perry; Barton, Agg, Gurr (Owen 90), Boswell (Khassal 42); Somes, Stenning. Sub not used: Carter.
Original article
The Seagulls started the game brightly, as Charlotte Gurr forced an early save from keeper Toni-Anne Wayne after outrunning Hammers full-back Vicky King.
Stenning then delivered a deadly ball into the box into the path of Lucy Somes, who narrowly failed to make a decent connection. Albion’s top scorer then had her own chance to break the deadlock, but Wayne was equal to her low drive.
Lovett’s side continued to dominate the early stages of the match, as Wayne made a superb double save to deny both Stenning and Gurr from close-range.
But the deadlock was eventually broken in the 29th minute, thanks to Agg’s powerful shot from just outside the area which proved too hot to handle for Wayne.
This acted as a wake-up call for United, who became more threatening on the counter-attack; Rebecca Merritt created a decent shooting opportunity, only to see her effort rise narrowly over the bar.
It was Merritt who equalised for the Irons just six minutes after Agg’s opener, when her looping drive caught out keeper Lucy Mangan and sailed into the net, leaving the sides level going into half-time.
Albion were immediately on the front foot after the interval, as substitute Khassal struck the post within moments of the restart, before Ryan had a pop from distance which went wide of the target.*
But it was West Ham who struck again, with April Bowers ending a lovely move by coolly side-footing her shot beyond Mangan nine minutes into the second-half.
The Seagulls responded almost immediately to the setback, when Tammy Waine saw her header hit the crossbar from Kirsty Barton’s corner.
It did not take too long for Albion to bring parity to the scoreline, as Agg’s surging run down the right-hand side led to a perfectly weighted ball for Stenning to slot home just past the hour-mark.
The decisive third goal was scored by Khassal in the 76th minute, after she guided Sophie Perry’s ball into the box past Wayne and secured a morale-boosting victory for Lovett’s team.
He told Seagulls.co.uk, “Today’s win was very important as it moves us up into third place.
“Last week’s performance against Spurs acted as a motivation for the girls; they were disappointed with themselves and wanted to put that right, which showed in today’s performance.”
*
Albion: (4-4-2) Mangan (GK); Cheshire (James 75), Ryan (c), Waine, Perry; Barton, Agg, Gurr (Owen 90), Boswell (Khassal 42); Somes, Stenning. Sub not used: Carter.
Original article