Damon Lathrope spoke to the media after the Golden Girls secured their first three points of the season with a 3-2 win away at Charlton Athletic on Sunday (September 10).
Taking an early lead through Sophie McLean, the Golden Girls added two more goals in first-half stoppage-time when Carly Johns netted her third in as many games and McLean got her second of the match.
The Addicks hit back twice but were unable to find an equaliser, handing the Hornets valuable points to aid their quest to retain second-tier status.
Covering a range of topics, including a first win of the season, the impact of an early goal and next week’s return to Grosvenor Vale against Blackburn Rovers, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
On the win:
We're really pleased. We knew coming here to The Valley against a very strong Charlton team that will definitely be in the title race come the end of the season, it was going to be tough. We're over the moon with three points, we came here for the three points but I don't think too many teams will go home with them at the end of the 90 minutes.
On the opening goal:
It didn't change anything to be honest, but it helps. It sort of saps the energy in this weather of the home team, because they know they've got to dig deep and force things a little bit more. We came here with a game plan and for 60 minutes the girls executed it to perfection, 3-0 up at half-time and it could have been a few more if we were a little bit more clinical.
Like I say, it didn't really change anything, the girls gave us absolutely everything they had and we got what we deserved.
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On Sophie McLean:
That's Sophie’s biggest strength, she's such a great athlete, a willing runner. She's the best at it that we've got and she got what she deserved out of it today, a couple of goals. I think contributing across the pitch with goals is going to be really important. We know how tough it is in this league, we need everyone to chip in.
On the nervy finish:
We knew at half-time that there'd be a big reaction from Charlton, they made three subs and had a good impact on it, they had nothing to lose. We didn't want to become over defensive, but there is that sort of fine line with making sure you don't kill yourself, but letting them on to you too much. It was a bit nerve-wracking if I'm being honest, but we've got what we deserved.
On heading into Blackburn at home:
Loads of momentum, I think from the start of the season we can take a lot of positivity and a lot of confidence, because I think we're getting better and better.
We didn't get what we deserved last week against London City, so we're really confident we're going to go into every game to win it. That’s not always going to be the case but nothing will change. We've got a really good group of girls that are desperate to get better.
On the injury situation:
Meg [Chandler] is back in contact training, she suffered a calf injury during pre-season, but we won’t take any risks with her.
It’s not a bad knee injury for Michelle [Agyemang]. Because she’s with us on a dual-registration from Arsenal, they are treating her and she should be back and available not too long after the international break.
Poppy Wilson and Annie Rossiter are also on their way back, and Gemma [Davison] missed out as a precaution. She tried to play through it at London City last week, but she felt it wasn’t right so we’re taking action now to avoid it becoming more serious.
