Beard Report: “It Was An Important Win For Us”
The Liverpool manager gave his thoughts on the Reds’ win over Coventry United, and looks ahead to next weekends FA Women’s Championship clash with Sheffield United.
The Liverpool FC Women’s side defeated Coventry United 2-0 on Sunday. It was the first time Liverpool won back to back games this season, and the win propelled Liverpool up to the third spot in the FA Women’s Championship. Manager Matt Beard was quite happy all around with the match.
“It was an important win for us,” Beard said in his post-match debrief.
“You looked at the fixtures yesterday and there were some challenging games for teams that are in and around us, and Coventry United were full of confidence after they got their first point against London City Lionesses in their last game.”
“Conditions were tough but especially the second half, I thought we were excellent once we sorted out one or two things and our substitutes had a big impact on the game as well, so we were really pleased.”
The substitutes indeed had a positive impact. Yana Daniels was a live wire after coming on at the half, while Niamh Fahey provided her usual calm in the center of defense. The biggest impact, however, went to Rachel Furness. The midfielder, who has been working her way back to fitness from a broken leg, provided the assist to open the scoring.
The goal itself was scored by the hard working Leanne Kiernan. It was the first Liverpool goal for Kiernan, and she followed up with a second not long after. Matt Beard, who was instrumental in recruiting Irishwoman to Liverpool, was ecstatic for the player.
“Leanne has worked incredibly hard and I was delighted for her to get her first goals for the club,” said Beard.
“Hopefully that will be the first of many for us. She worked on her finishing last week and I thought her touch to set herself up for the second goal was world-class. You could see the smile on her face after the game and what it meant to her.”
“Leanne is quick, she has a good football brain and she is a very good finisher. She has had bad luck in the last year-and-a-half with injuries but I know what she can do because I’ve seen it at first hand at West Ham and now at Liverpool.”
“She can flourish now. She is a great character, I’m glad she’s got her first goal for the club and now she can just concentrate on just doing what she does best.”
Now Beard and his side will turn their attention to a massive match up next weekend against Sheffield United. The two teams are even on 10 points in the table, with Sheffield United sitting above Liverpool on goal difference.
“It’s going to be another tough game and I’ve watched a bit of them already and they are organised, direct and tough to beat,” said Beard of the Blades
“They have got three clean sheets on the spin now so I think that tells you everything that you need to know, but we are going to go there full of confidence because we are on a good run ourselves.”
“I think we are getting better with every game that we are playing and it’s going to be an exciting game. We know what a tough afternoon it’s going to be but we are looking forward to it.”
Unfortunately, as of this time it looks like the game will not be broadcast.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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