Martin Ho said ‘he couldn’t have asked for more’ from his players as our resilient performance was undone by Keira Walsh’s stunning second half strike to earn Chelsea a 1-0 win in the Women’s Super League.
Facing the league leaders in the WSL, who are currently on a 28-game unbeaten run in the competition, we were defensively resolute in the first half and restricted the Blues to just one shot on target – compared to our two, and we arguably had the best chance in the first period when Cathinka Tandberg’s effort was deflected narrowly wide.
We continued to withstand the home side’s relentless pressure going forward in the early parts of the second half but, on the hour mark, Keira Walsh produced a moment of quality to break the deadlock with a low strike from distance.
Our determined performance continued after going behind, staying in the game until the very end but we were unable to find a leveller - although there will be many positives to take from the strong defensive display in west London.
“We were resilient, we limited them to not many clear-cut chances - a lot of half chances,” Martin told us, speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game.
“I couldn’t have asked for any more from the players in terms of effort, commitment and desire. We had a few moments with the ball and we need more of that but, in games like this, it’s hard when you’re defending your goal for so long.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to get a foothold. But that performance defensively will give us a lot of confidence moving forward.
“In the first half, they had a lot of half chances but not many clear-cut ones. Amanda [Nilden] did really well one-v-one out wide, and the back line as well as the midfield got in front of the ball, put in some big blocks, and stopped some really good opportunities on goal. In the second half, as the game opened up a bit more, Keira Walsh got half a yard on the edge of the box — and she’s a world-class player and she took that chance.”
Although it ended in defeat for us, with Martin’s impressive start now reading four wins in six WSL matches, our Head Coach feels we can take plenty of confidence from the performance into the rest of the campaign.
“From game to game, we’ve taken big steps and this is another one - against a top-quality team, the champions, unbeaten in nearly 30 games,” he explained.
“When you can put in defensive performances like that, it sets you up for success moving forward. If you get the foundation right, you become hard to beat. And with the quality and class we have going forward, we’ll get our moments.
“I couldn’t have asked for any more from the players - they gave me absolutely everything, and that’s the most important thing.”