Georgiou: Ladies 'completely deserve' Women's Cup triumph

Georgiou

Andria Georgiou could not contain her excitement after West Ham United Ladies secured the Goodmove.co.uk Women's Cup with a 2-1 victory over Charlton Athletic Women. 

It was Charlton who took the lead in Wednesday's final, thanks to a fourth minute effort from Kit Graham, but Georgiou but the Hammers on the comeback trail with a sensational goal in the final moments of the first half.

Molly Clark then hit a sumptious free-kick just 20 minutes from the end to put the Irons in front, securing the Cup for Karen Ray's side.

"We're absolutely buzzing," An estactic Georgiou told whufc.com: "We've been working so hard in training and we absolutely deserve this win. The graft put in by all the girls has been second to none and everyone has just been pulling in the same direction for this result. We're just all so proud. 

We completely deserve it given how well we've played tonight. So many of the girls played so well tonight. The atmosphere is amazing, the confidence is sky high, and we all play football for nights like this.

Andria Georgiou

"I could feel it coming to be honest. It's just amazing. We knew what Charlton could do and they hit us early. We were so desperate to score before half-time but, even though we did, we knew our first half performance wasn't good enough.

"We came out in the second half absolutely raring to go and I really think we dominated from the 46th minute onwards. We completely deserve it given how well we've played tonight. So many of the girls played so well tonight. The atmosphere is amazing, the confidence is sky high, and we all play football for nights like this."

It wasn't just the players that got praise from Georgiou though, with the midfielder also making the point of thanking and congratulating the Ladies coaching team. 

Interim head coach Karen Ray was named Manager of the Month for March earlier in the week, and Georgiou has heaped praise on her and the other coaches.

Georgiou

Georgiou continued: "I have to give a special mention, not just to Karen, but all the coaches that work with us. There's a reason we won tonight, and are now ten games unbeaten, and it's largely down to the incredible work they do for us behind the scenes. 

"Karen won Manager of the Month for March and she thoroughly deserved it. All of them - Karen, Myles, Dan, Neo, Jackson and Cav - they are a great set of coaches and we're really lucky to have them. Winning this trophy was just as much for them as it was for us."

It appeared West Ham Ladies would go in at half-time behind, before Georgiou struck a fantastic finish deep into first-half injury time. It marks the second finish from distance in the last few games for her, having also scored a terrific shot against Hull City Ladies last month.

"That's two banging goals now," Georgiou laughed. "It's always amazing to score in a final, but to get a goal like that, it's just wow! To net from distance, underside of the bar, I don't even score goals like that in training, so to do it on this occasion will live with me forever."