Ray: West Ham United Ladies dug deep to claim exciting Cardiff victory

West Ham United Ladies general manager Karen Ray has hailed the work-rate shown by the team in Sunday’s 4-3 win over Cardiff City Ladies.

Two goals from Paige Anderson-James and strikes from Amber Stobbs and Molly Peters was enough for the West Ham United Ladies to overcome the tough test Cardiff presented in an entertaining encounter at Rush Green.

Sunday’s match was a roller-coaster of emotion as the Hammers twice conceded the lead and even went behind before scoring two goals in the final 17 minutes to secure a victory.

Ray is delighted with the battling spirit the Ladies team showed in sweltering conditions and believes the dominance displayed by West Ham ended in the result the team deserved.

“We are very pleased with today’s performance,” Ray told whufc.com: “The Ladies showed a great reaction and really dug deep despite making it hard for ourselves at times.

“Yet again we were the most dominate team and created many opportunities in the final third. We know we need to be more clinical. However, you cannot take away from the quality of the finishes today and the creative build up.

“The work rate on a very hot day was phenomenal. Some of our link up and combination play was excellent, but admittedly I am a perfectionist so I want us to see the score-line we deserve.”

West Ham United had taken the lead thanks to Anderson-James in the 15th minutes but Cardiff levelled the match just four minutes later.

The work rate on a very hot day was phenomenal. Some of our link up and combination play from our all areas of the pitch was excellent. 

Karen Ray

Stobbs scored a magnificent effort mid-way through the first half as she lobbed a stranded Cardiff City goalkeeper, giving the Irons a 2-1 lead at half-time, but just three minutes after the restart the south Wales side were level again.

West Ham United Ladies fell behind for the first time on 58 minutes but Peters restored spirit and momentum to the home team with a clinical finish on 73 minutes.

And Anderson-James secured a fantastic win for the Hammers when her header found the net from a Stobbs cross.

Ray has also paid tribute to the West Ham United fans in attendance at Rush Green on Sunday, praising their involvement in the 4-3 win and the journey the Ladies team is undertaking.

Ray added: “We have a young squad who continue to learn and develop in a challenging environment and today we reaped some of the rewards of patience, trust and belief in the journey we are on.

“The crowd were fantastic too, they really helped encourage the ladies to finish the game with a win. We play for something far bigger than ourselves, we do this to grow the game and the club so the young mascots from today can go on to be professional in years to come. It’s about the success of the club, not individuals and everyone here now buys into that.”