- West Ham United Ladies exited the FA Women's Cup at the first-round stage on Sunday
- The Hammers were beaten 3-0 by Coventry United at Thurrock FC
- Manager Greg de Carnys was encouraged by the performance of his team
West Ham United Ladies were knocked out of the FA Women’s Cup, losing 3-0 to Coventry United.
The Hammers gave a good account of themselves against their FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division rivals, only for three first-half goals to end their hopes of lifting the trophy at the first-round stage.
After gathering to pay tribute to the victims of the Chapecoense air disaster, the two teams kicked-off on a cold December afternoon at Thurrock FC.
It was Coventry who started the game the brighter and the visitors took the lead on nine minutes through an Alison Hall goal.
At the other end, Julie Melfald was causing problems for the Coventry defence and fired a volley over the bar.
Coventry then hit the woodwork before goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan failed to gather a cross and was punished as Maz Gauntlett tapped home.
To complete a difficult opening half, Jade Brook made it three for Coventry with a shot from distance that found the bottom corner.
The Hammers came out stronger in the second half, with Whitney Locke, Melfald and Dayna Chong linking up well in attack. Chong went closest, but failed to convert Melfald’s ball over the Coventry defence.
Greg de Carnys’s side were also much more solid at the back, with Hannah Wheeler and captain Amy Cooper to the fore.
We focus on our own performance and try and make sure we can be as close as we can be to perfect and then the result should sort itself out
West Ham United Ladies manager Greg de Carnys
Speaking afterwards, the manager was encouraged by a performance that was improved from the 5-0 home league defeat by the same opposition in October.
“I thought they were even better today than they was last time we played them,” he said. “It was a really really tough test. In the first half they got the better of us, but in the second half I thought we came out and really solved the problems.
“We started to press the ball a little more intelligently, move it about and trust people on the ball and eventually we managed to get a foothold in the game.
“I thought we were the better side in the second half and that’s a credit to the girls and their ability to take on the challenge because at half-time they could have easily gone under.”
The Ladies return to action on Sunday, when they travel to Shrivenham FC to face Swindon Town in the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division.
De Carnys added: “Swindon are a team who are around us in the league so we’re going to be approaching that as a game that, if we play the way that I know we are capable of, and if we play the way we played in the second half on Sunday, I’ll be really pleased and will probably be enough to get something from the game.
“We focus on our own performance and try and make sure we can be as close as we can be to perfect and then the result should sort itself out.”
*Report supplied by Robert Wheeler.