Greg De Carnys believes his West Ham United Ladies side put in a performance deserving of a least a point in Sundays’ 2-1 defeat at Portsmouth.
The Ladies suffered a very late loss in this weekend's fixture as Portsmouth tucked home a penalty in added-on time at the end of the second period to inflict another defeat on the Hammers.
It was a bitterly disappointing manner to lose the match and one which De Carnys’s side did not deserve, having battled back to level the game towards the end of regulation time thanks to their own penalty through Chenise Austin.
The match on the south coast had been goalless up until the 84th minute, when Shannon Sievwright put the home side ahead, but West Ham responded almost instantly with a surge into the Portsmouth area, from which they won a penalty.
I'm very proud of the work rate from the girls today. I think we deserved at least a point from our performance, but that is football and it can be a cruel game.
Greg De Carnys
And, despite ultimately losing the fixture, De Carnys is proud of his players for their efforts against a difficult Portsmouth side, who sit in the top five of the division, and feels their showing was worthy of at least a draw.
De Carnys told whufc.com: “I'm very proud of the work rate from the girls today. I think we deserved at least a point from our performance, but that is football and it can be a cruel game.
“Cherie Rowland had an excellent performance in goal and the whole team were tireless in their work rate.
“The girls showed tremendous character and togetherness to keep Portsmouth out for 85 minutes, and then the resilience to get back in the game at such a late stage. It was a crazy end to the game with two excellently taken penalties, considering the pressure.”
The West Ham Ladies were without a number of crucial players for Sunday’s match and De Carnys is eager to welcome those players back into the team very soon.
But the first team manager believes the players he had at his disposal can take heart from their efforts, and more performances like that will undoubtedly lead to more points on the board in the near future.
“We were missing our captain Amy Cooper, due to a family commitment,” De Carnys revealed: “Vice-captain Amber Stobbs is still out with an ankle injury and other key players such as Leanne Maybe, who suffered a virus on the eve of the game, were also unavailable.
“Obviously, we are bitterly disappointed as a team to have allowed them back into it right at the death but we have to remember the qualities that took us to the brink of getting something from this game against a strong Portsmouth side.
“If we show the same determination, work rate and togetherness every week then we will pick up plenty more points this season.”