Greg de Carnys believes his West Ham United Ladies “reaped the rewards” of their efforts and made a statement in the 5-0 victory against Swindon Town.
The Ladies claimed a much deserved three points on Sunday as goals from Hannah Wheeler, Molly Peters, Paige Anderson-James and Kelly Wealthall saw West Ham pick up their second win of the season.
It was a dominant win from the home side and one that De Carnys says was exactly what his team deserved after their performance.
And the first team manager reckons that the victory was the result of persistence and hard work throughout training.
The score-line didn’t flatter us. I feel like we could have scored even more. We’ve made a bit of a statement with this performance and I’m very proud of the players
Greg de Carnys
“I’m very pleased with the way the girls applied themselves,” De Carnys told whufc.com: “Before the game I hailed them for working hard and doubling their efforts and today they’ve reaped the rewards of that.
“The score-line didn’t flatter us. I feel like we could have scored even more. We’ve made a bit of a statement with this performance and I’m very proud of the players, and all the staff, for the work they have put in.”
It proved to be a near-perfect day at the office for the West Ham Ladies in front of the gathered crowd at Rush Green. The side were two goals ahead at half-time thanks to an instinctive finish from Wheeler and a curling effort by Peters.
Anderson-James doubled West Ham’s lead with two strikes in the second half – one from close-range and a long-ranged wonder-effort – before Wealthall secured the win by rounding the goalkeeper.
Although the game saw an abundance of goals and a clean-sheet, De Carnys says that his side’s unrelenting determination was the most pleasing aspect of Sunday’s victory.
He said: “I think the think that was most pleasing was the way we kept our foot on the gas. We kept going right until the very end of the game.
“We said to the players at half-time that they should trust in their own quality and we looked like we were going to score more goals up until the final minute. We didn’t show any complacency.
“The players showed a mentality of demanding more from themselves than any opposition possibly could, and that is going to take the group even further.”
De Carnys also praised the impact of the returning Amber Stobbs, who played her first match for West Ham in a number of weeks after an injury set-back.
The creative midfielder was a creative hub for the Hammers’ attacking moves throughout the contest and De Carnys was delighted to see Stobbs back on the field.
“It was fantastic to have Amber back,” he added: “She’s a very valuable player to the team and she proved that today. She knows she has a big responsibility at West Ham, and putting in performances like that shows she’s able to rise to that. She was excellent.”