West Ham United Women vs Reading

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WEST HAM UNITED WOMEN 1-0 LEICESTER CITY Barclays Women’s Super League | Chigwell Construction Stadium | Sunday 20 November 2022 Late Atkinson winner secures victory over Leicester City Izzy Atkinson’s first West Ham United goal secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Leicester City in their latest Barclays Women’s Super League outing. The Republic of Ireland international came off the bench to score an 88th minute winner at Chigwell Construction Stadium to move the Hammers up to sixth in the table. Paul Konchesky welcomed back No1 goalkeeper, Mackenzie Arnold to the starting XI, with the Australian international missing the previous two league matches due to injury. Claudia Walker made her first start of the season, as she was preferred to Thea Kyvåg, who dropped to the bench. Leicester started the better of the two sides in the opening exchanges in east London. CJ Bott looked to cause issues with a cross, but she got her angles all wrong and it ended up behind the back of Arnold’s goal. Natasha Flint was then played in behind and tangled with Kate Longhurst, but referee Louise Sanders waved away the protests from the Foxes forward. The Hammers were experiencing their early joy down the right, with Risa Shimizu and Lisa Evans combining well as they looked to double up on Leicester full-back Jemma Purfield. The Japanese international collected a lovely ball through from Evans, and her cross found her compatriot, Honoka Hayashi, but the midfielder couldn’t force Demi Lambourne into a save. Flint had a golden opportunity to open the scoring with 20 minutes gone. Willie Kirk’s side won the ball inside the Hammers penalty area, but the forward couldn’t capitalise on the mistake and blazed the ball over the bar. Viviane Asseyi, who was celebrating her 29th birthday, almost opened the scoring with a cross-cum-shot from distance. Walker, who Asseyi might have been aiming for in the first place, couldn’t prod the rebound home thanks to good pressure from the Leicester defender. Walker went close again moments later, and whilst her effort was hit with plenty of power, she couldn’t guide the shot on target. The Hammers continued to look the most likely to open the scoring, but couldn’t break down the Foxes backline before the referee sounded for half-time. Ten minutes went by in the second half before Leicester should have opened the scoring. A floated ball into the area was connected with by Aileen Whelan who was unmarked, but she couldn’t head home and narrowly missed the target. Carrie Jones had the best opportunity of the game to open the scoring, but her header crashed off the underside of the crossbar and was eventually cleared away. However, it would be Konchesky’s Hammers that would be celebrating at full-time. Substitute Atkinson skipped beyond two Leicester defenders and slotted the ball beyong Lambourne to win the game for her side. Heroic defending at the end from Longhurst and her teammates kept the Hammers in front, and they would be celebrating their third WSL home victory as the full time whistle sounded. 12 COME ON YOU IRONS
KONCHESKY: MY TEAM FOUND A WAY TO WIN It wasn’t the best game, if you like - It was a little bit scrappy out there. But the most important thing is that we came off the pitch with the three points. My girls showed fantastic desire to keep the ball out of the net at the end, so to get a clean sheet as well is fantastic. There’s no better feeling than winning it late. First half I thought we were really good, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. We had some really good chances and I thought we should have come in ahead. I thought Leicester looked really well drilled – you can see that their manager has had a bit of time to work with them now and coming into the game we knew it was going to be tough because of that. The second half wasn’t pretty from our perspective, but we’ve found a way to win and it’s a big bonus to be walking away with three points instead of one. Izzy came up with a rocket of a goal. I’ve been able to watch it back and it’s a fantastic finish. I thought she’d taken a touch too many, but she took it superbly. I’m really pleased for her. All I ask from my players that don’t start is, can they come into the game and make a positive impact. Izzy coming on and scoring gives me something to look at going into the Conti Cup game next week. She’s finished the game for us and got us the three points which is brilliant. Hopefully the win will build momentum for us. We’re playing in a different competition next, but ultimately, we still want to do well and progress. We’re hoping that we can get a little run together and carry that through until Christmas. WEST HAM UNITED Arnold, Smith, Fisk, Longhurst, Shizmizu, Stringer (Filis 72), Brynjarsdottir, Hayashi, Evans (Kyvåg 82), Walker (Atkinson 63), Asseyi. Unused Subs: Hillyerd, Houssein, Flannery Bookings: Stringer 47, Asseyi 56 Goal: Atkinson 88 LEICESTER CITY Lambourne, Tierney, Bott, McManus, Flint (O’Brien 63), Whelan, Simon (Goodwin 75), Howard, Jones, Plumptre, Purfield. Unused Subs: Levell, Vance, Brougham, Pike, Jones, Baker, Scofield. Referee: Louise Sanders Attendance: 1,038 COME ON YOU IRONS 13
Page 3 and 4: 3 INSIDE 5 7 14 20 24 26 Editor: Ge
Page 5 and 6: W e’re hoping that we can secure
Page 7: FROM THE MANAGER I’d like to welc
Page 10: Exceed your goals with Huboo Huboo
Page 15 and 16: And ‘GG’, as she is affectionat
Page 17 and 18: V
Page 19 and 20: she has made six appearances, scori
Page 21: ONES TO WATCH THE MANAGER L ifelong
Page 24 and 25: V FOUNDATION STUDENTS FROM LEE CHAP
Page 26 and 27: My V CLAUDIA WALKER Claudia is the
Page 28 and 29: V FIXTURES & RESULTS Date Opponent
Page 30 and 31: V RETAIL MEET & GREET - ROMFORD Viv

West Ham United Women vs Reading

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