Lois Joel was buzzing with West Ham United’s 4-0 victory over Birmingham City on Wednesday evening – as they took a huge step to advancing into the knockout stages of the Continental Tyres League Cup.
The Hammers controlled the match at St Andrew’s, and Birmingham were limited to very little due to the dominant display that Olli Harder’s side produced.
And Joel, who was making her second start of the campaign was pleased with the performance that the team put in against the Blues.
“We’re buzzing with the result and the clean sheet, the 22-year-old defender told whufc.com.
“It’s a good reaction to the last game where we were disappointed to only come away with a point against Reading – so the girls are all delighted to come away with three points, a clean sheet and four goals.”
The game had the potential to be a banana skin for the east Londoners – as was the case in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League a month ago. But this time around, Joel and her team-mates were more composed and clinical in their play.
And the defender is pleased that they managed to make it two wins from two in the tournament, which sets them up nicely for the final group stage game against Brighton & Hove Albion in December.
“It’s good that we’re not losing lots of games, which was the case last year, but perhaps one thing you could say that has been slightly disappointing is that we haven’t been clinical enough in some of our matches this season – so it’s good that we’ve been able to score a couple of goals tonight.
“It’s a nice way to bounce back, and hopefully we can keep being clinical and winning matches.
“The other positive for me is that I got another 90 minutes under my belt, it’s always good to play and even better when it’s in a winning performance.”
Attention now turns back to the WSL, where the Hammers host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. It’s a game that Joel knows will be tough, but the win on Wednesday means that the team can go into the match full of confidence.
“It’s been a busy week for us, but tonight gave us a chance to put the Reading result behind us, hit the reset button and it gives us some momentum to take into the Spurs game on Sunday.
“We know that it will be a tough game, being a derby match as well brings added incentive to make sure we’re on the winning side," she concluded.