Bethany England praised the ‘never say never’ attitude from her team-mate to complete a late, dramatic turnaround against Aston Villa and secure an impressive 2-1 win in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Our captain was on hand to spark the comeback at Brisbane Road as she headed home the equaliser less than 60 seconds after Kirsty Hanson had fired Villa into a surprise lead – especially being down to 10 players after Oceane Deslandes was sent off for a second yellow card midway through the second period.
Those two goals all happened with around five minutes left of normal time and although time was not on our side, we continued to push for a winner and in the fifth minute of eight allocated minutes of stoppage time, Olivia Holdt produced a memorable moment in front of our Lilywhite fanbase, firing home the winning goal and sparking jubilant celebrations.
A result that sees us just one point shy of last season’s total (20) and securing our spot in the top five until the new year, our captain was full of pride for the resilience shown to fight back and claim the three points.
“We don’t half like to make it hard for ourselves, do we?” she laughed, reflecting on the dramatic end to the game. “We put the fans through a rollercoaster of emotions. I felt like we were on top for large parts of the game, but then there were moments where we just weren’t at the standard we know we can reach.
“It was extremely disappointing to go a player up and then concede. We wanted that clean sheet - we’ve taken a lot of pride in keeping them this season - so that was frustrating. But the flip side is the response: we brought it back, got the winner right at the end and everyone was putting their bodies on the line, blocking everything. I couldn’t be prouder of the girls for getting the three points and showing that resilience again.
“It’s just a never say never attitude. Anything can happen in football - and within a minute, we’d already equalised. It was important to make sure we weren’t sulking or accepting a defeat to a team we know we can beat.”
Notching up our fourth WSL home win at home in five games, Bethany was determined to get a result for our Lilywhite fanbase. She added: “I’m glad we turned it around, especially for the fans who stood in the rain all game. We heard them throughout, and when we scored the equaliser, it felt like the roof came off. So, a massive thank you to them.
“The fans are seeing better football, a stronger mentality and a more together team. Even when performances aren’t perfect, we’re showing resilience and getting the points. Hopefully we take that into Man United next week.”
Watch | Key highlights from our win over Villa