Cecilie Redisch has praised her team’s work-ethic, attitude and desire in coming back from a goal down to beat Brighton & Hove Albion in a penalty shoot-out.
West Ham United were 2-1 down heading into the final ten minutes in Wednesday evening’s Continental League Cup clash at the People’s Pension Stadium. Rachel Daly’s first goal for the Irons had been cancelled out by Megan Connolly, before Rianna Jarrett gave the home side the lead.
However, the Hammers continued to push and eventually found a more-than-deserved equaliser through Gilly Flaherty’s headed effort, taking the match to penalties to determine the allocation of the extra point after a 2-2 draw.
West Ham would score four of their five, with goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan making a terrific low save to deny Brighton captain Bowman, to secure the extra point for Matt Beard’s side and take the win on penalties.
It was a very nice evening! It was great to come back into the game the way we did and then, to win the penalty shoot-out too, was excellent.
Cecilie Redisch
“We just really wanted to get that first win,” Redisch told whufc.com. “You could see it in everyone’s attitude and play. Even though we went 2-1 down, the heads didn’t go down and everyone kept pulling for each other.
“I felt like we kept pushing for that equaliser, we got corner after corner, and we were able to put one away. It was a very nice evening! It was great to come back into the game the way we did and then, to win the penalty shoot-out too, was excellent.”
The right-back joked she was glad to not step up and take a spot-kick in the shoot-out.
Redisch laughed: “Hopefully I was number eleven! I scored my penalty in training on Tuesday though, and I’ve taken one competitive penalty in my life, in the quarter-finals of a cup tournament in Norway. I scored that so I’ve got a 100 per cent rate!”
The 25-year-old put in another excellent showing in Wednesday evening’s win, having also impressed during the Barclays FA Women’s Super League match with Reading at the weekend.
Redisch believes her time to adapt to English football over the last 12 months, combined with the extra work done during lockdown, have benefited her immensely on the pitch for West Ham.
She continued: “I’ve had a year to settle in now. This is a completely different league to what the Norwegian league is. It’s way stronger and way more physical and it obviously takes a bit of time to adapt to that.
“But I’m feeling really good. I worked really hard during the lockdown and then into pre-season, so I’m feeling great.”
Up next for West Ham is a trip to play high-flying Everton in league action. The Toffees have started the campaign strongly, but Redisch says the Irons have the belief in themselves to get the result on Sunday.
“The mood in the group is so great after that,” Redisch added. “We just need to take confidence from this game now and take it into this weekend’s game against Everton.
“We just need to keep working hard, as we have done all season so far.”
