Merricks delighted as Albion return to winning ways

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Albion beat West Ham 5-4 to claim second victory of the season in the WSL.

Matt Bishop

2022-11-06T17:55:00Z

Albion suffer defeat at Kingsmeadow.

Amy Merricks said she was “really proud” with how her team played as they edged out West Ham in a Women’s Super League thriller on Sunday.

A rollercoaster of a match saw Merricks’ side hold on to beat the Hammers 5-4 in Dagenham and bounce back brilliantly following last weekend’s 0-8 defeat to Spurs.

That loss seven days ago was tough to take but Merricks was pleased with how Albion responded after a testing week which saw Hope Powell depart as manager on Monday.

The interim manager said, “I’m really proud of the players. It wasn’t about me or who was in charge, it was about the team and how well they responded to the Spurs defeat.

“They applied the things we’ve worked on in training and showed a lot of character and strength. This win shows what we’re capable of if we really apply ourselves and stay focused on our end goal.

Danielle Carter went close with this first-half shot.

“We spoke a lot this week about playing with intent and being proactive in key moments, and we did that so I’m really happy for the squad.”

Things didn’t start well against West Ham with the hosts taking the lead inside three minutes, but Danielle Carter’s brace either side of Vea Sarri’s first Albion goal had us 3-1 ahead at the break.

Carter was a constant menace throughout and played just as much of a key role in the second half as she did the first, but Merricks was quick to praise her entire squad and not just our two-goal hero.

“Danielle is very good at holding the ball up, bringing others into play and she did so well up front. But I think everyone contributed in terms of scoring goals and creating opportunities.

“Maybe we can take a few lessons in slowing the game down and managing the match at key moments because West Ham took the game to us and made it difficult, but overall I’m really pleased with the team.”