Kate Longhurst was delighted that West Ham United Women were able to make it back-to-back wins on Sunday afternoon as they beat Birmingham City 2-0 in the Continental Tyres League Cup.
Paul Konchesky’s side got their first three points of the group stage on the board in east London on Sunday afternoon, with Longhurst weighing in with a goal.
The midfielder, who was playing at centre-back once again, got scored the game’s opening after only 12 minutes.
Captain, Dagny Brynjarsdottir added a second in the second half, converting from the spot after Viviane Asseyi had won a penalty having been taken out by Jamie Finn inside the area.
Longhurst reflected on a good win at the full-time whistle, which see’s the Hammers move top of group C.
“We needed the win,” Longhurst told whufc.com. “It’s important that everything is in our own hands going into the last game, and the win means that’s the case now.”
“Getting a clean sheet is as equally important and I thought we deserved the win overall today.”
The Irons had to battle it out with the Blues whilst a deluge of rain hammered down at different spells throughout the match.
What it did allow was for the Hammers to play with a bit of ‘zip’ about their play, wit the wet surface allowing them to move the ball quickly.
Longhurst was pleased that she and her teammates got the job done in a game that could have been a potential banana skin on paper.
“They gave us a few scares, they’re a very good team that have got a lot of players that played for them last season in the WSL and some young players that can potentially step up in the future.
“We knew it was always going to be a tough game, so we had to stay professional and switched on and make sure that we came away with the points that we wanted.
“We tried to play with confidence, and I think getting our first goal early really helped with that. Once we got the second goal, I thought we took it up a gear and played some really nice stuff. All in all, it’s been a really good day.”
After beating Leicester City last weekend, the Hammers are looking to build a good run of momentum as they head into a tough run of matches before the Christmas break, which will see them play Liverpool, Tottenham and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Longhurst believes that the team are in a really good place heading into those matches.
“We’ve had a really solid start to the season, but we don’t want to let that go before Christmas. We’re building some good momentum, and we’ve got players to come back into the team.
“Hawa is back from her suspension next week, so that’s a big plus for us, as is keeping a clean sheet today.
“It all builds confidence, and that can only be a good thing going into Liverpool, which will be another tough match. They’re another team which is fighting for every point, but we have the quality to get the result that we want, which is three points," she concluded.
