Abbey-Leigh Stringer says that West Ham United Women gave it everything out on the pitch, as they performed admirably against a strong Arsenal side.
Stringer was making her first start for the Hammers since the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea at the end of September, and the midfielder slotted in alongside Honoka Hayashi and Captain, Dagny Brynjarsdottir.
Things couldn’t have got off to a better start for Stringer and Co, with Brynjarsdottir seizing on a mistake at the back from Arsenal and forcing the ball over the line with only 25 minutes gone on the clock.
Jordan Nobbs would pull one back before half-time, and then Stina Blackstenius and Frida Maanum would complete the victory. The Gunners never really had it all their own way though, with Brynjarsdottir seemingly having a goal ruled out incorrectly, and the Icelandic international nearly added her second of the game towards the end.
And Stringer reflected on a hard-working performance from the team at the full-time whistle.
“I thought all of the girls were great tonight,” Stringer told whufc.com.
“We were unlucky with some of the goals that we conceded, but we know that Arsenal are a good team. We had a gameplan today, but I think, in the end, Arsenal showed why they’re a quality side.
"I think we’re getting better and better against the top sides in the division, and obviously we’ve still got to keep improving – we all know that coming away from tonight. But I think we can all take credit from what we did well tonight.”
Paul Konchesky’s side have enjoyed fast starts in almost all of their Barclays Women’s Super League matches so far this season, with all of their goals coming in the first half of their league contests.
It was the same this time around against the Gunners, and Stringer says that starting matches strongly can only be a good thing for the Irons.
“I think it’s good that we’re able to start matches strongly at the moment because it means that teams are scared of us from the beginning, and it allows us to catch them a little bit cold or off guard.
“We know that when we come up against the likes of Arsenal that we’ve got the respect the quality of their players, but I thought we battled really well, and we were unlucky at times.
“I also loved playing with Hono (Honoka Hayashi) and Dags, I think we worked really well together.”
The Hammers now prepared to face Brighton & Hove Albion in their final outing before the November international window.
Stringer believes that their upcoming opponents will provide a different sort of test to the one that they were subjected to at Meadow Park.
“Brighton will be a completely different opposition; it’ll be a different game. They obviously have some quality, but we know that we’re capable of coming away from that game with a win, and we can take confidence from our performance tonight into that game," she concluded.
West Ham United Women are back at Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday 6 November when they face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Tickets for the clash against the Seagulls are available to purchase now by clicking on the graphic below!
