West Ham Women’s manager Rehanne Skinner felt as though her Hammers side deserved more from their final day 3-1 derby defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Hammers gave it their best effort in their trip to North London, unfortunately for Skinner’s side Drew Spence’s strike late into second half injury time condemned the Hammers to derby day defeat in their last game of the WSL season.
Spurs went in front early on in the first half after a goal from Beth England, before Riko Ueki would level the tie for the West Ham thanks to a brilliant strike five minutes into the second half. Jessica Naz put Spurs back in front with four minutes of the 90 remaining, and as West Ham tries to find a late equaliser, Drew Spence’s finish in the ninth minute of injury time secured all three points for the hosts.
Speaking to the club’s official website after the game, Hammers boss Skinner said: “It was the last game of the season, and everyone wanted to get something out of the game. We probably haven’t been consistent enough throughout the game in terms of what we set out to achieve, but we deserved more than we got.”
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Skinner said: “It’s been a tiring season because there have been so many things that we wanted to do, but I think where we are at with everything behind the scenes it has given us a good platform to move forward (as a Club). The players have worked incredibly hard and full credit to them as they have done everything, and I think that will stand us in good stead going into next year. We are in a good place.”
West Ham manager Skinner was also full of praise for the support shown to her side by the club’s supporters throughout the season: “The fans have been outstanding all season. We wanted to go over and applaud the fans as they have followed us up and down the country, have supported us, have been really positive in the way we are trying to play and they’ve been delighted with the attacking football we have played.”