Charlton Athletic 0-4 West Ham United
FA Women’s Continental League Cup – Group D
VCD Athletic, The Oakwood
Wednesday 18 November 2020
A professional and thorough showing by West Ham United secured a 4-0 win over Charlton Athletic to end their group matches top of Group D in the Women’s Continental League Cup.
Emily van Egmond’s opener – her fourth goal in five games – was followed by a first two finishes of the season by striker Leanne Kiernan. Substitute Martha Thomas also netted her first goal of the campaign against an Addicks side who saw Rachel Newborough sent off on the hour mark.
An evening which saw two West Ham United debuts – for Angie Dunbar and Maisy Barker – was ended with the victory secured. The Hammers end their Group D campaign with eight points from the three games played.
It was the perfect start for the Hammers on a cold evening at The Oakwood with Van Egmond attacking Daly’s cross from the byline, turning the ball past Eartha Cummings for her fourth goal in five games.
The Australian international could have potentially netted a hat-trick in the opening ten minutes of the game, with two other Daly crosses providing excellent opportunities for the No25. A low effort was saved, while another header went just wide.
The home side looked to make the Hammers pay for the missed chances. Beth Lumsden went close, striking an attempt on the half-volley from a long punt forward. The ball went narrowly wide of Courtney Brosnan’s goal.
Ruby Grant and Nor Mustafa both went close to opening their respective accounts for the Hammers. The midfielder’s half-volley was wide at the far post, while Nor’s powerful strike was well-palmed away by Cummings.
Gilly Flaherty’s goal-bound header was cleared on the line, but the Irons would not be denied a second before half-time. Another Daly cross, this time from a corner, and Kiernan was in the right place to steer in a well-placed glance with her head for her first goal of the season.
The game was secured, if it wasn’t already, just four minutes into the second half. West Ham’s two goalscorers combined, for Kiernan to burst into space and coolly slam a shot into the top right corner of the net.
The introductions of Kenza Dali and Adriana Leon gave the Irons even more quality, with the latter winning the away side a dangerous free-kick. Charlton’s Rachel Newborough was given her marching orders for the challenge, shown the red card after being deemed to be the final defensive player.
A third change saw Martha Thomas introduced and, less than ten minutes after entering the fray, the Scotland international had her first goal of the season, turning home from Leon’s corner.
With the game won, head coach Matt Beard took the opportunity to give two Academy youngsters the respective debuts, with Angie Dunbar and Maisy Barker coming on for their first senior appearances in Claret and Blue.
Charlton Athletic: Cummings; Newborough, Coombs, Heuchan; Roe, Griffiths, Clifford (c) (Gurr 70), Gotch, Legg (Dorey 65); King (Laudat 70), Lumsden (Watling 65)
Subs not used: Eligon
West Ham United: Brosnan; Redisch (Barker 73), Flaherty (c), Cissoko, Joel; Grant (Dali 46), Longhurst, Van Egmond; Daly (Thomas 56), Nor (Leon 46), Kiernan (Dunbar 73)
Subs not used: Arnold, Fisk, Svitkova, Lehmann
Goals: Van Egmond 3, Kiernan 45, 49, Thomas 64
