An opening day win in the Barclays Women’s Super League was all that mattered for Bethany England.
Our captain picked up where she left off as, having finished as our top goalscorer last season with eight goals in all competitions, she grabbed the winning goal in our 1-0 win over West Ham United to get off to the perfect start.
After Eveliina Summanen was brought down inside the box, our number nine stepped up to take the penalty and, as shown throughout her career to date, it was complete calmness from the proven goalscorer, firing her spot-kick into the bottom corner to claim the victory with just four minutes remaining on the clock.
Despite opening her account for the new campaign, Bethany acknowledged that the three points was the main target in Martin Ho’s first competitive game in charge.
Watch | Key highlights in our win over the Hammers
“I'm just proud,” she told us, reflecting on the win over the Hammers. “I think we needed those three points to start our season off strong.
“I don’t think it was pretty. In some parts of the game, I thought West Ham gave us a good test. It’s always tough playing a London Derby on the first game of the season, but we stuck it out and got the three points, and that’s all that matters, the winning feeling.
“The fans want to see fight and pride in our performances. We don’t want to be a team that gets rolled over easily. We conceded a lot last year and our aim is to concede far less this season, so we want clean sheets.”
Reflecting on her pressured moment from the spot, she added: “I always say pressure is a privilege.
Watch | Bethany gives her thoughts on the game
“Even with the West Ham fans booing me as I stepped up, I felt calm and collected. The keeper went the right way so it was close, but luckily that’s why we practice them every day. I was delighted to see it hit the back of the net and secure the three points.”
After our three pre-season games were away from home, we returned to action in front of our loyal Lilywhite fanbase and Bethany was delighted to be back out on the pitch in front of them.
“It’s amazing,” she added. “We love having the fans here. Their support is so crucial, they really are like the 13th-player for us.
“Their noise lifts us in difficult moments, so it was great to have them back today and hopefully they enjoyed seeing us out there again.”