1-0 v West Ham United - 17 January 2021 - Away

Spurs Women returned to action on Sunday (17 January), defeating West Ham 1-0 at Victoria Road to secure a third win on the bounce in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.

Lucy Quinn’s first-half strike proved to be the difference in the tightly-contested London derby, while our solid defensive display resulted in our first league clean sheet of the season.

Rehanne Skinner made four changes to the side that beat Aston Villa 3-1 at The Hive last month (13 December), as Josie Green, Rachel Williams and Gemma Davison returned to the starting line-up.

Jessica Naz, who made second-half substitute appearances against both Villa and Brighton, marked her full WSL debut against the Hammers with her first start since August, 2019.

West Ham created several chances during a physical opening period. Becky Spencer was tested twice early on when she kept out Emily van Egmond’s curled shot at goal, before rising to confidently claim Cecilie Redisch’s long cross two minutes later.

We were forced into making an early change after 21 minutes, when Williams limped off, with Quinn coming into the game.

Quinn made her presence known nine minutes before the break when her first shot flashed just over the Hammers’ crossbar.

We broke the deadlock moments later – Davison picked up Rosella Ayane’s low cross deep into West Ham’s box. Our winger laid off to Quinn, who struck first-time with her right foot to slot home her first goal of the season and give us the lead at half-time.

Four minutes after the restart, Quinn looked for a second when she tried her luck from long range, but her right-footed effort flew over the crossbar.

On the hour mark, van Egmond came close for the hosts when she latched onto Adriana Leon’s whipped free-kick, however Spencer was on hand to vigorously stop the close-range header.

West Ham’s confidence grew as the second half continued and after 72 minutes, Hannah Godfrey made a stunning game-winning block when she dived point-blank into the path of van Egmond’s powerful shot.

At the other end, Rianna Dean came close when she was played through into the box by substitute Kit Graham. Dean’s outstretched leg beat Hammers goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold to the ball, but her effort spilled off the wrong side of the post.

Our third win in the league this season sees us climb to seventh place in the WSL.