Billericay Town Women 1-5 West Ham United Women
Pre-season Match, New Lodge, Saturday 23 July 2022
West Ham United Women began their 2022/23 pre-season campaign with a 5-1 victory over Billericay Town.
Goals from Alex Hennessy, Claudia Walker, Yui Hasgawa and a double from Mel Filis secured the win in a solid workout at New Lodge.
A penalty converted by Lucy Jones brought the deficit down to a singular goal after half-time, but the Irons proved too strong for their opponents in a successful outing in Essex.
Paul Konchesky named a line-up that featured three WSL Academy players in his first official game in charge of the team – with Amy Jarvis, Chloe Brand and Rebecca Chitole-Porter all making the step up to the first-team squad.
It was another glorious afternoon in the sunshine – a perfect afternoon for the Hammers to get their first minutes in the tank as they prepare for the upcoming Barclays Women’s Super League.
Beau Parker had the first chance of the game, hitting an effort from long-range over the top of goal as she looked to catch Mackenzie Arnold out in the opening three minutes of the game.
Lisa Evans had the Irons’ first opportunity when she burst in behind the Billericay backline, but the shot from the Scottish international landed wide of the mark.
It didn’t take long for the Irons to get ahead against the FA Women’s National League outfit – some superb work from Izzy Atkinson started the move off – with the Irish international working the ball into Hennessy, who fired the ball emphatically into the roof of the net.
The Irons continued their dominance with the football, looking to pull the Town backline around in search of openings.
Walker added a second just before half-time. The forward drove at the Billericay defence, before slotting the ball beyond the goalkeeper.
Atkinson fired a free-kick straight into the path of Town’s trialist goalkeeper, and the Irish wingers follow up effort was also kept out, as the Hammers went into the break two goals ahead.
Konchesky opted to rotate his squad at half-time with roll on, roll off substitutes in use. Abbey-Leigh Stringer, Hasegawa, Kiera Flannery, Sophie Hillyerd and Academy defender Brand entering the contest in Essex.
Flannery had a lively introduction to the game, testing the Trialist in the Billericay net on two separate occasions early on.
After further rolling substitutions in the second half, Billericay were back in the contest. Hillyerd raced out and brought down a player in Blue - with Jones stepping up to covert from 12 yards.
But the two goal cushion was restored on 70 minutes – with Hasegawa producing a sublime piece of skill on the edge of the area to beat her player, before calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
Grace Garrad nearly added a fourth five minutes later, but the defenders fierce strike struck the inside of the post and was cleared away.
As the game headed into the closing stages, Chitole-Porter provided an assist for Mel Filis to add a fourth with a tidy finish.
And the midfielder wasn’t done there, as she finished the game off with a delightful lob to end the game at 5-1.
The Hammers will now look forward to taking on Enfield on Wednesday 27 July at the QEII Stadium.
West Ham United: Arnold (Hillyerd 46), Garrad, Fisk (Houssein 60), Jarvis, Atkinson (Chitole-Porter 60), Houssein (Hasegawa 46), Filis (Stringer 46), Cairns (Brand 46), Hennessy (Flannery 46), Evans (Filis 60), Walker (Hennessy 60).
