West Ham United Women's U21 Captain Chloe Brand believes that her team can be proud of the 2022/23 campaign.
The U21s season came to an end on Wednesday afternoon, as they fell to a 4-0 defeat to Chelsea at Little Heath. After a strong showing in the first half from the Hammers, the Blues scored two quickfire goals through Kate Dungate - with the forward completing her hattrick on the hour mark.
Aimee Claypole then added a fourth for the away side to seal the win, which meant that West Ham United finish the campaign in 6th position in the FA WSL Academy League, achieving their highest points total (20) since the U21s side began.
Brand, who has been with West Ham United for eight years, working her way through the Foundations Player Pathway, is proud of how the team has performed this season.
"It's been a really good season," she told whufc.com at the full time whistle.
"The U21s this year have really come on leaps and bounds, it's complete different to how it was last season. We're a side now that are capable of competing in matches against the big sides and we've been able to pick up some really good wins, which wasn't the case before.
"It shows how far we've come as a team. I think Stephen (Opoka) and his staff deserve a lot of credit because they've all played a massive part in our success. Stephen has pushed us through the hard times and he's always there for all of us."
The Hammers were impressive in the first half against Chelsea, who sat 2nd in the Southern Division coming into this game.
Whilst Brand was disappointed with the defeat, she was pleased with the way that the team battled in the first half.
"We battled really well in the first half, without creating all that much. But that shows how far we've come as a team that we were able to match them in the first half.
"Unfortunately we couldn't sustain that going into the second half, we let them into the game and then they were really clinical with the chances that they had."
First team players Anouk Denton, Amber Tysiak and Izzy Atkinson all featured in the match for the U21s. With no first team fixture this weekend, it presented the opportunity for the trio to get valuable match fitness ahead of the WSL run-in.
Brand believes that it's always a positive experience to have the first team players with the U21s.
"It's nice to play alongside them," Brand explained. You can see the quality that they have and it's something for the young players to look up to.
"We also had a lot of the first team staff watching us today, which is always really nice. It's good to know that there is a pathway into the first team if you're good enough, it gives everyone something to aim for.
"It's always nice to know that you're in the thoughts of the first team staff as well, there's always at least one of them watching our games and I think that really helps give us some confidence. They talk to us, offer us advice on how to do things a little differently and we're all grateful for that."
