Wonder goal by Walker only earns Hammers a point in 1-1 draw against Birmingham

By Football Reporter

West Ham 1 Birmingham City 1

Louise Quinn capitalised from close range to give Birmingham City their first point of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League season in a 1-1 draw away to West Ham. Claudia Walker’s second-half wonder goal put the Hammers in the lead over her former team ten minutes after half-time. But Quinn made the most of a goalmouth scramble to level things up just over ten minutes later. Both sides had opening flurries of excitement, with Adriana Leon shooting across goal for the hosts in the opening seconds, and Birmingham’s Jade Pennock having a shot wide two minutes later. In the 40th minute, Lisa Robertson’s strike for the visitors was comfortably held by Mackenzie Arnold. Five minutes after the restart, Lucy Quinn fired over for Birmingham as the Blues struggled to break through the Hammers defence. The breakthrough came in the 54th minute, with Walker’s amazing strike from outside the area dipping over Marie Hourihan in the Birmingham goal to the far post. It is Walker’s first goal for the Hammers after her summer move. Louise Quinn equalised on 67 minutes. Harriet Scott’s header clattered the bar, and in the resulting scramble, the Irish defender was able to capitalise on the loose ball for a poacher’s goal. Tameka Yallop’s header for the hosts spiralled over with ten minutes to go as the Hammers looked for a winner. Leon’s shot from distance went over in the closing minutes, but they were not able to find a way through again. In four minutes of additional time at the end of the match, the Blues scrambled away a West Ham corner to maintain their well-earned point.

To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com Teams: West Ham United (3-5-2): Mackenzie Arnold, Zaneta Wyne, Gilly Flaherty, Claudia Walker, Katerina Svitkova, Kate Longhurst, Tameka Yallop, Yui Hasegawa, Adriana Leon, Hawa Cissoko, Dagny Brynjarsdottir Substitutes: Abbey-Keigh Stringer for Brynjarsdottir 79, Mel Filis for Walker 88 Substitutes not used: Anna Leat, Lisa Evans, Lucy Parker, Lois Joel, Brooke Cairns Goals: Walker 54 Bookings: Walker 7 Birmingham City (4-3-3): Marie Hourihan, Harriet Scott, Louise Quinn, Lisa Robertson, Jade Pennock, Jamie Finn, Lucy Quinn, Lucy Whipp, Emily Whelan, Rebecca Holloway, Gemma Lawley Substitutes: Veatriki Sarri for Whipp 77, Eleanor Ryan-Doyle for Whelan 77 Substitutes not used: Cecilie Sandvej, Libby Smith, Abi Cowie, Sophie Phillips, Freya Clark Goals: Louise Quinn 67 Referee: Lucy May Attendance: 1,142 Olli Harder, West Ham manager: “We should be taking more points at home, or could be, but this is how the game goes also. Man City had a lot of ball last week and we won, we had a lot of ball this week and we picked up a draw. It’s not about having the ball, it’s about doing something effective with it. We weren’t effective enough today. “We thought this was pretty much how the game was going to play out. Our analysts and coaching staff did a fantastic job of predicting how the game would play out. We worked on all these situations all week, we just weren’t clinical enough. The bottom line is about results and we want to win football matches. To do that, we need to be better in key moments. “It’s a fantastic goal. It’s a goal she has to score, she has two runners outside her as well. If she shoots, she’s got to score it. I’m pleased for her. I’m pleased we took the lead, I’m not pleased about the ten minutes post scoring where we had our foot on the throat and we didn’t kill the game. We should be making more of those ten minutes after Claudia [Walker] scores.” Scott Booth, Birmingham manager: “I thought it was a good performance. I thought it was very structured. It’s what we’ve been working on, having a bit more of an attacking transition threat. I thought today we had that. When the players had to put their bodies on the line, they did it. “It’s really tough against them. They have a really good wide shape, they stretch the game continually. They were looking to penetrate with pace going through the back line. They’ve shown this season how capable they are of hurting the best teams in the league. We had to be really organised, and I think we were. “We need Lou involved in dead ball situations like that (the goal). It was different this one, she reacted well in the second phase. It was a good delivery, and we had bodies going for the ball. Anything that dropped, it was up to us to latch onto it. Little bit surprising it was Lou, but to be honest, she deserves a goal because she’s been so good so far this season.”