- West Ham United Ladies twice come from a goal down to grab a 2-2 draw with Swindon Town
- Ladies sit tenth in eleven-club FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division table
- Manager Greg De Carnys believes his players have the confidence and ability to avoid relegation
A late wonder goal from Dayna Chong claimed a valuable FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division point for West Ham United Ladies against Swindon Town Ladies on Sunday.
The Hammers trailed twice at Thurrock FC’s Ship Lane, but battled back to earn a share of the spoils and extend their unbeaten run to a season-best three matches.
Georgia Walters scored twice for the Robins, but Greg De Carnys’s team showed their strong team spirit as first Molly Peters, then Chong, levelled to snatch a deserved draw.
“It means a lot to the players,” said the manager. “You can see the passion in their eyes and you can see that it means something in the celebrations when the goal went in.
“Dayna is a fantastic footballer, she can get on the ball and make things happen, you saw with the goal that she can do all sorts things, she’s a joy to watch.
“We played some really good stuff, these girls have come a long way. We’ve now got three more league games which will be a good challenge for us, which we will relish and everyone can see that we are getting better.”
Dayna is a fantastic footballer, she can get on the ball and make things happen, you saw with the goal that she can do all sorts things, she’s a joy to watch
Greg De Carnys
After an even start at Ship Lane, Chyna Collings headed wide and Walters fired over for Swindon, before Peters shot straight at Robins goalkeeper Robyn Levett for the home side.
Swindon went ahead on 14 minutes when Amy Cooper uncharacteristically gave the ball away, which led to Walters’ opening goal.
However, their lead did not last long as Peters showed great pace to get round the back of the defence and slot the ball in to level.
With confidence now flowing, West Ham went on the offensive, with Julie Melfald seeing a shot blocked, Shannon Albuery launching a long-range effort off-target, while right-back Chantelle Mackie and Chloe Burr linked well regularly down the right flank.
Elsewhere, Cooper and Chong were moving the ball well in the middle of the park, while Hannah Wheeler and Jodie Jacobs continued to build their impressive partnership at the back.
Against the run of play, Swindon went ahead for a second time ten minutes before half-time when Wheeler was penalised and Walters netted the resulting penalty.
Into the second period and the Hammers started with determination and were nearly rewarded when, after some good passing play, the ball fell to Peters but her shot went narrowly wide.
Burr then fired a powerful shot at the Swindon goal which was beaten away by Levett while, at the other end, Lottie Ivison in the West Ham goal had little to do.
Whitney Locke, who had rescued the Hammers with a late equaliser against the same opposition two weeks previously, was introduced in an attempt to turn things around again.
However, the game looked to be beyond De Carnys’s team as West Ham appeared to be unable to break down the Swindon defence as the game entered its final stages.
Then, in the 85th minute West Ham had a corner cleared only as far as Chong on the edge of the box, and she fired in an unbelievable volley into the Swindon net to make it 2-2.
Despite late pressure, the Hammers could not find a winner, but they will travel to unbeaten leaders Tottenham Hotspur Ladies with growing confidence in their next match.
West Ham sit tenth in the eleven-club table, three points above Queens Park Rangers, who have two games in-hand. One of those two and Swindon, who are also on eight points alongside the Hammers, will likely be relegated, but manager De Carnys believes his players have what it takes to stay up.
“We were creating lots of chances but it doesn’t always happen for you in the penalty area,” he observed. “We’re hopeful that we can take that progress we’ve been making over the last few months into these final games and get the points we need to stay in the division."