Two goal hero Kelly Wealthall could not contain her delight at bagging a brace in the 3-0 WPL Plate semi-final win over Hull City Ladies.
West Ham United Ladies bested the Tigers on Sunday afternoon thanks to the two finishes from Wealthall in the second period, before Andria Georgiou completed a terrific afternoon with a beautiful effort from distance.
The result means the Irons will take on either Luton Town Ladies or Fylde Ladies in the final of the competition, and Wealthall is thrilled she was able to play her part in the huge win.
“There’s no other way to say it, I’m just absolutely buzzing,” Wealthall told whufc.com.
“We’ve reached another final, which is incredible, and I also got two goals which is such a good feeling.”
There's no other way to say it, I'm just absolutely buzzing!
Kelly Wealthall
A tight opening 45 minutes saw the two teams go in goalless at the break, with Wealthall seeing a finish before the whistle being ruled out for offside.
But the forward has hailed the West Ham coaches for their half-time team talk, which she says served as inspiration for the eventual victory.
She admitted: “I didn’t feel there were many opportunities in the first half. We tried to get forward and then I had the goal ruled out for offside as well, which was frustrating, but that made me even more determined to push on and score later in the game.
“We picked it up in the second half. We put into plan the things the coaches told us to do, and it seemed to work really well for us. They told me to play on the shoulder of the last defender to stretch the game out a bit more, and that made a big difference.
“More balls were put through for me to run on to and that’s how we opened the scoring in the end. Once that first goal went in I was really pumped up. It gave me that adrenaline rush to push on even more. It was a great ball by Dre and scoring made me want to try even harder.”
With high competition for places at the Club, Wealthall believes she has given herself the best possibility of retaining her spot in the starting XI.
“I feel like, today, I’ve put my best foot forward. I got to start the game, which was really good, and I feel like I paid back that faith. There’s a lot of competition for places here, and I’m only 16 so I know I’ve got a lot still to learn, but I don’t think I did myself any harm today.
“Now we’re just really excited to see if we can make that last step and go and win the WPL Plate. We know we have the ability, we’ve just got to show it in the final match.”