Jacynta Galabadaarachchi knows West Ham United are in for another tough test this weekend when Reading visit Rush Green Stadium in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
The Irons will end a busy week against the Royals, having beaten Lewes on Wednesday night in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup, following difficult league defeat at Manchester City on Sunday.
A return to winning ways in the league would be a successful end to a demanding eight days for Matt Beard’s side, and Galabadaarachchi says everyone involved is determined to show their best this weekend.
We need to work hard for the Reading game. These few days before this game, we need to work hard and recover properly
Jacynta Galabadaarachchi
“We had a lot of team meetings after City to reflect on our performance,” Galabadaarachchi revealed. “We didn’t show our true selves in that game. We let the fans down that day, and we should have performed a lot better. We reflected and we’ve trained hard, and we wanted to bounce back.
“We were on a low after City but we showed against Lewes the quality we bring and have. We have a diverse group of talent and we’re really happy with how we did in winning that game.
“We’ve got another home game to come now against Reading. City was a bad weekend all round and we’re working to put that behind us. We need to work hard for the Reading game. These few days before this game, we need to work hard and recover properly.”
Galabadaarachchi’s phenomenal efforts on Wednesday were more than worthy of the NicheSolutions Hammer of the Match award. The 18-year-old played a pivotal role in West Ham’s first two goals, setting up Leanne Kiernan and Kenza Dali, before going close herself with two powerful efforts.
The forward is delighted with how she and the team performed against Lewes and is now looking to score her first goal in Claret and Blue – perhaps even when Reading visit this weekend.
She added; “I’m very happy with my own performance, the team performance and, of course, the win. It’s a good bounce-back from the way we played against City. I think we played really well, especially in the first half. We kept our standards high throughout the game, which we needed to do.
“Matt Beard was really happy with how I played and I’m also happy with how I did. To get that first goal will be great but I know I can’t force it. If I keep working it will happen. Matt said the same thing.
“I just need to keep working hard and it will come. Fingers crossed it happens. It would be great to happen on Sunday.”
Tickets for Sunday's 3pm kick-off will be available on the day at Rush Green, priced at £5 for Adults/Concessions and £2 for U16s respectively for men's Season Ticket Holders, and £8 for Adults, £7 for Concessions and £2 for U16s otherwise.
