Martin Ho says the performance was the ‘right direction’ as we edged Arsenal in a seven-goal thriller to win 4-3 on Saturday afternoon and earnt our first win under our new Head Coach.
It was an action-packed north London derby at Meadow Park, with seven goals between the two sides, captain Bethany England netting a brace alongside Matilda Vinberg and Eveliina Summanen also on the scoresheet and, after 12 months out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Kit Graham returned to the pitch in the second half.
Our number nine grabbed our first goal of pre-season to cancel out Victoria Pelova’s early opener, but an own goal from Charlotte Grant put the hosts ahead at the break. However, we fought back in the second half as a composed penalty from Bethany and a well-struck effort from Matilda gave us the lead.
And, despite Caitlin Foord scoring an equaliser to make it 3-3, Eveliina’s free-kick in the final quarter-of-an-hour saw us claim an impressive win against our rivals, building positive momentum ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League opener against West Ham on Sunday 7 September – tickets still available to buy.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game, Martin told us: “I thought for parts in the first half we showed control, but we didn’t really progress much in advance with the ball.
“That’s just a little bit of confidence and bravery with the ball. We spoke about that at half-time, we adjusted some things tactically to get more aggressive pressure, and I thought in the second half, we were better with that pressure. We were closer together and more connected to the press. In those moments, we regained two or three balls, and we either created from them or scored from them, so that’s really pleasing.
“There are a lot of good parts of the game and things we’re trying to implement. It takes a little bit of time, but we’re starting to see those things come together.
Ho on the display in the second half…
“The mentality to come back helps you in games when you’re down, knowing that you can do it and have the belief to do it. More importantly, having the quality to do it, which we do. Then to be able to stay in front, see out the lead, and manage the game — these are all things we need to keep growing and evolving. The more we get into these situations and experience them, the better we’ll become.”
Ho on being clinical in front of goal with four goals…
“It’s really important to score - whether it’s one or four, like today — because it builds confidence in the group. We also know that when we’re in front of goal, we can be ruthless, and that’s what I asked for, from the Seville game and probably at the other end too. We don’t want to be conceding three goals in any game, some of them are our own errors in small tactical parts and certain actions we can be better in. But, more importantly, it’s the mentality and growth of the team that we need to keep focusing on. Today’s performance took us in the right direction.”