Le Tissier shines for Brighton in win over West Ham
MAYA LE TISSIER reaped player-of-the-match honours as her Brighton team claimed consecutive wins for the first time in the Women’s Super League.
Just three days after Brighton & Hove Albion’s historic triumph at Chelsea, Aileen Whelan’s first-half strike bagged them a 1-0 home win over West Ham.
But it was teenage defender Le Tissier who took the triumphant side’s ‘POTM’ award after helping set up the winning goal amid a strong performance at the back.
This paints a very different picture to that of not even two weeks ago, when the Seagulls had lost 3-0 to bottom-of-the-table Bristol City during a long win-less streak.
Hope Powell now sees her side’s confidence soaring as they enter a three-week break.
‘It feels good to take six points from two tough matches,’ Powell said.
‘Certainly after the defeat to Bristol City, the girls responded and the win over Chelsea was massive for us.
‘I am absolutely delighted we could come out tonight and do it again against a good West Ham team.
‘Everybody has played a part in the last two games – the players and staff. It takes a lot of pressure off us and puts us in a much different position to where we were a week ago.
‘We have still got a long way to go, though, and we have to maintain our approach – we don’t want to stop there, we want three wins out of three and so on.’
This follow-up result, coming after they beat Chelsea 2-1 away, lifts the Seagulls to seventh in the 12-team league.
Guernsey’s own Le Tissier proved pivotal as, around the half-hour mark, she expertly headed a Hammers strike off the line and provided the platform for Albion to go in front.
After Nora Heroum was excellently denied by a one-handed diving save, Whelan volleyed home from 10 yards to grant Albion the lead after 31 minutes. Megan Connolly, who scored the winner against Chelsea, had provided the assist with a left-wing corner.
Albion enjoyed several other good chances and held on to secure the win after weathering a late surge from the visitors.
Danique Kerkdijk, one of Le Tissier’s fellow defenders, told supporters they had set out to prove that the Chelsea result wasn’t a one-off.
‘We spoke about the Chelsea game and how we had done some things well, but we knew as a group that it was just one game and it meant nothing if we didn’t follow it up against West Ham,’ she said.
