Damon Lathrope spoke to watfordfc.com following Watford’s opening day draw with Durham, as Carly Johns’ first-half lob pegged back an early Wildcats strike from Mollie Lambert to ensure the points were shared at Grosvenor Vale.
Discussing the team’s adaptation to the Barclays Women’s Championship, the debutants’ performances and the opposition threat, read the Head Coach’s thoughts below...
On the performance:
I'm pleased we’ve got something to show for our work, for sure. We’re a little disappointed that we didn’t get all three points because I feel like our performance over the 90 minutes probably warranted more.
That being said, on clear-cut chances, it was a fair result, I can’t overly complain about a point. It’s a good sign that we're disappointed with a point against Durham, who are a very good Championship side.
On the new signings and the group:
I was really pleased with them. They’re probably further ahead than we anticipated they would be at this stage.
I think it was evident in the second-half. We played some superb football and with a little bit more cutting edge at the top end of the pitch, we could have really made that tell. But all the new signings have come in and taken to it really well.
On the performances of Carly Johns & Harley Bennett:
I was really pleased. Harley’s taken the armband [in Megan Chandler’s injury absence]. She looked like a complete leader, in performance, voice, and competing. I thought she was outstanding.
She’s taken on this new style of football, and she gets it now, and she looks really comfortable doing it.
Carly’s going to be a great asset for us. She's not played at this level before, but I think today proves to us that she’s going to be a real big threat in this league, and I'm really pleased she got off the mark.
