Karen Hills believes her Addicks side fully deserved three points in their 1-0 triumph over Lewes Women at The Oakwood on Sunday afternoon.
Wales international Elise Hughes poked home on 34 minutes minutes to settle the contest and extend Charlton’s unbeaten run to six games across all competitions.
The result marks the first win of 2022…
“I’m absolutely delighted, the girls deserved it. They’ve had a fantastic week of work, taking on all the information, and I thought today we thoroughly deserved that win.”
Lewes providing a challenge…
“They looked a little bit different in the second-half and we always knew that. At the end of the day, they’re going to come out and want to get something from the game themselves. But they looked different in the second half, and I thought we had to work really hard in patches to try and stop them. They obviously moved some players around that caused us problems, but I think our backline dealt with a lot of those really, really well. It could’ve probably been a little bit different if one of them had gone in for them, but we stood strong. We managed the game as well as we could and I think we deserved the win.”
Commending her team’s performance…
“We worked really hard this week on what we knew we needed to do better. The information the girls have taken on and they’ve absolutely executed what we’ve asked of them. They’ve given absolutely everything; I think the frontline today has been fantastic. They pressed from the front, they caused their backline a few problems and that’s how we obviously got our goal, so I’m really pleased with how our front players did today. Obviously last week we were disappointed because we had some fantastic build-up and probably the final third needed that little bit of quality. I said in my notes how confident I am in the front players, and they’ve proved that this week so I’m really pleased for them.”
Defensively solid…
“We’re in a really good place, the players are really confident. They’ve had some tough players to deal with over the last couple of weeks, and I think they’ve dealt with situations in the wide areas and one-v-1ones really, really well. As a collective back four - five including Eartha - they’ve been tremendous. I thought her distribution today was very good and we didn’t overplay; we just played quite direct at times and, if I’m honest, it worked today.”
Looking ahead to Bristol City…
“They’re coming thick and fast aren’t they. Bristol are another very good team that are moving in a really good direction, so we know that we’re going to have to be at our best but I think we’ll take a lot of positives from today. We obviously got Lauren Bruton on the pitch as well, so that was a really big plus for her. She’s worked so hard to get herself into contention to be back into the squad and I was really pleased to see her back in. Like I said, we’ve got some fantastic players that are in and around the squad as well so it’s going to be another good week of work and we look forward to going to Bristol.”
On club captain Lauren Bruton's Charlton debut …
“Her experience is huge and just her presence on the pitch and in and around training has been giving the group a lift and giving them a little bit more quality and standard. That’s what she’s here to do and she’s proven that. There’s still a long way for her to work and she’s got to take the time and be patient with herself, as we all have. I’m not expecting her to come on and change things too soon but we’ve got to get her right. She’s heading in a really good direction, the girls are obviously buzzing to have her back in and around with her great experience and leadership qualities. It’s something that we are really keen to keep moving forward with.”
The Addicks are back in action at The Oakwood in Crayford on Sunday, February 6th against Watford. Click here to purchase your tickets.
Article by Josh Eden