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Bowman: We let the fans down

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Albion captain Dani Bowman was disappointed that the team weren’t able to put in a better performance for the fans in yesterday’s 3-1 Barclays FA Women’s Super League defeat to West Ham United.

By Jake Ketley • 14 October 2019

By Geoff Penn
Dani Bowman in action against West Ham United.

After starting well, Albion fell behind to a Martha Thomas goal and Bowman believes that her side lost their way afterwards and didn’t take the game to West Ham as well as they would have wanted.

She said, “We know that there aren’t any easy games in this league and we knew the quality West Ham would have going into it, so we were aware of their threats. For us, we were disappointed in the way we conceded the goals.

“We started the game on the front foot, conceded against the run of play and we almost lost our way a bit. After that, it became a bit of a battle and a bit of a fight. Then they got a penalty, which in my opinion was a bit soft, and then they scored quickly afterwards.

“We got a consolation at the end, but we’re more disappointed in the way we conceded the goals because we stopped playing our game – with the threats we have, we could have exploited them a little bit more.”

By Geoff Penn
Dani Bowman challenges Gilly Flaherty for the ball.

After falling to a second defeat in a row, the skipper said that some honest words were exchanged within the squad, and that they will spend the next few days analysing what went wrong before facing Bristol City next Sunday.

“We didn’t manage ourselves very well, which is frustrating for us and a few home truths needed to be said. We’ll have two days now to analyse the game, but we know going into Bristol City next weekend in the Conti Cup and Everton at the end of October, that they are two big games for us and we can bounce back with them. It was not a good day at the office, and in this league, you will get punished with the quality of the opposition.

“Credit to West Ham, they knew where our strengths were and they stopped us playing how we wanted to play. I know that we all have a lot more in the tank and we could have brought a lot more to the game.”

The midfielder then praised the support for the team and was unhappy that they weren’t able to put in a better performance for the fans, which is something that they will look to put right in the Continental League Cup match against Bristol City next weekend.

“We’re mostly disappointed that we let the fans down, they came out in force and they were cheering us on to the end. Next weekend we have Bristol City and we should really be doing better for them. I thank every fan for coming out and braving the weather, we now have a week to turn this around and we will put on a better display.”