West Ham United Women defeated Chichester & Selsey Ladies a remarkable 11-0 in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round.
The Hammers were far too strong for the third tier FA National League Side. The scoring started in just the third minute when West Ham were awarded a penalty which was converted by Emily van Egmond, and then when she got her second of the game, doubling the lead just three minutes later – the match seemed to be over from that point on.
The Van Egmond Show
Kenza Dali was next on the score sheet making it 3-0 after just 11 minutes. Then the Australian striker, van Egmond, completed her hat trick with a header. She then scored West Ham’s fifth and her fourth of the game during the 24th minute of play in what was an amazing individual performance.
By half time it was an incredible 7-0, even defender and club captain Gilly Flaherty scored heading in the sixth of the match. West Ham’s other goal scorers were Kateřina Svitková, Nor Mustafa, Cecilie Redisch, Kate Longhurst and Anouk Denton.
In the second half West Ham took the opportunity to hand a few young players their debuts. Three members of the club’s academy were on the pitch at the same time, as Maisy Barker and Denton were joined by 17-year-old midfielder Janaye Beaufort at the break.
The Hammers men’s team have gained a reputation of always bringing through talented youngsters into the first team. The women’s side seem to be following suit in terms of the ‘Academy of Football’ motto.
In Form Hammers
The East London side are in fine form having beaten Reading 5-0 in their previous match in the Women’s Super League. This means West Ham have scored 16 goals without reply.
Harder, said: “”I thought we were excellent. I’m really pleased with the performance. It was nice to see a lot of our young players coming out and performing well, which is fantastic for us.”
He continued, “The big point for me was the professionalism of my team, from that standpoint we were brilliant. We made sure that we approached the game in a professional manner and worked for the full 90 minutes.”
On Janaye Beaufort’s debut Harder said, “for us to be able to promote her from the academy for a game like this is really important for our ethos as a football club, and I thought the older girls really made her feel welcome and it was important to me that she got that opportunity,” he said.
Villa Up Next
West Ham sit 10th in the WSL on 12 points. On Tuesday night they welcome 12th place, bottom of the table, Aston Villa in what is a massive game in the fight for survival.
Harder admitted, “we tried to save some legs for Tuesday because of how important that game is. We made a lot of changes for this afternoon with that game in mind.”
In a clear attempt to save his most important players for the Aston Villa game, goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold was substituted on to play in central midfield for the final 20 minutes of the match.
