Grace Fisk was delighted to help West Ham United Women pick up their first ever point against Arsenal in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
The defender helped her side to a clean sheet in an entertaining 0-0 draw with the Gunners in front of a record crowd at Chigwell Construction Stadium in Dagenham on Sunday evening.
Fisk and her teammates had to put their bodies on the line on several occasions to keep the Gunners at bay. However, it wasn’t all one-way traffic – the first half in particular saw lots of aggression from Paul Konchesky’s team, who go up in the faces of his counterpart, Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal.
“I’m so proud of the girls after that performance,” she told whufc.com.
“Playing against Arsenal whether you’re at home or away is always going to be incredibly tough. We had a tough second 45 minutes where we really had to pull together to make sure that we kept the ball out of the net.
“The legs are sore; I’m not going to lie! We’ve had to work incredibly hard but it’s all worth it now to come away with a point – our first over Arsenal.
“This team is all about working hard for one another and we did that today.”
The Hammers had to work incredibly hard to keep the likes of Stina Blackstenius and Frida Maanum from converting. The Gunners had a total of 21 shots, nine of which landed on target.
When the Irons’ defence was breached, Mackenzie Arnold was there to keep the ball out of the net and the Australian international was awarded Player of the Match by Sky Sports for her incredible performance.
But whilst they did come under a lot of pressure, particularly in the second half, Fisk and co were fearless in their constant pressure, forcing Arsenal into errors which lead to them becoming frustrated.
“We know that Arsenal are top quality, but Konch (Paul Konchesky) said it to us before the game that we had nothing to lose, the pressure was all on them – and if we were able to take a point or three away from the game then that would have been amazing.
“I think we were fearless – we went in and tried to play our best football and defend for our lives. They have good players, but so do we, and we all work incredibly hard as a collective for one another. It was a great game for us!”
Fisk and her teammates now look forward to facing Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Continental Tyres League Cup on Thursday evening, where the defender hopes that the team can do the business against another strong opponent.
“It’s another big game – we’re desperate to get into a final so we really want to come out and give it everything.
"We will need the fans back here with us, it’s great to have some many here tonight and I hope that they can come back on Thursday and be our 12th player,” she concluded.
You can get behind the team in Dagenham on Thursday evening, with tickets available from as little as £8 for Adults and £3 for Juniors.
Click on the graphic below to get your tickets!
