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Friday 30 November 2012

“I’ll fight for my place” vows West Ham Ladies winger Zoe Lipley-Hinton

When re-joining the West Ham Ladies in the summer, young winger Zoe Lipley-Hinton thought she would spend most of the season in the reserves.

But after impressing in pre-season, the 18-yearold was promoted to the first team and given her chance in the starting line-up.

Following several solid performances, which also saw her score against Colchester United in the League Cup, her teammates were full of praise for Zoe and a regular spot in the starting XI looked certain.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix
But during the Ladies thumping victory against Spurs last month, Zoe twisted her knee and now faces a couple of weeks on the sidelines while others get a chance to shine.

“There are a lot of players in the team who are good enough to step in and take my place so I will have to do my best to get back into the team,” she said. But to be honest I’ve really enjoyed playing with the first team and apart from my goal, my highlight this season has just been starting games.

“I honestly didn’t think I would get this chance because I had just come up from the reserves and thought I’d be on the bench but I was delighted to be able to show what I can do and start matches.”

It looks unlikely the teenager will play competitively for the Ladies this year with their final game of 2012 being Reading away on December 16 but that’s not something she is too worried about.

Zoe continued: “I thought the step up to the first team was difficult because it was much faster but I didn’t have anything to lose or anything to prove so I just gave everything I could in every game.

“I have also been lucky in that players like Bex [Merritt] give me a lot of advice. Her runs are very good and that is one thing I am working on and she helps me with this part of my game.”

She added: “I feel like I bring good work rate to the team and that I always want to put in a good shift.”

West Ham Ladies are next playing at home on Sunday, December 9 against Queen’s Park Rangers in the FA Womens’ Premier League Southern Division. The game kicks off at 2pm.

The Ladies play their home games at Thurrock FC, Ship Lane, Grays, Essex, RM19 1YN.

Sunday 18 November 2012

West Ham Ladies midfielder Lindsey Morgan staying on until Ladies are promoted

During the summer of 2011, Lindsey Morgan decided the upcoming season would be her last and aimed to leave on a high with the West Ham Ladies securing promotion.

Fast forward to the end of the 2011/12 campaign and the Ladies missed out on promotion by the narrowest of margins, leaving the retiring midfielder devastated.

But a few conversations with manager Julia Setford and other experienced players in the Ladies’ squad and the 32-year-old decided to postpone her retirement for another season to help her side get promotion.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

And this season, Lindsey has helped to spearhead the Ladies’ push for promotion, netting three goals in the opening seven matches.

“I stayed on because I think we are going to get promoted this season,” she told Blowing Bubbles. “The girls really want to do it this season and I think I would have been gutted not to have been part of our push for promotion this season.

“I have scored more goals so far this season than I did for the whole of last season and I feel like I am playing pretty decent stuff. Of course it gives me more confidence to be scoring goals for the team, but for me, providing assists for my team mates to score goals is just as important as scoring them myself.”

The goals scored by Lindsey has helped the Hammers grab ten early points from a possible 18 already this season.

And she knows that the beginning of the season will indicate where the team should be aiming for at the end of the season.

“It is massively important to get off to a good start in the league because the first few months are the foundation for how the season shapes up,” she continued

“Having a solid defence is also important, but the defending starts from the front. It is equally as important that we work together as a team.”

Lindsey rejoined West Ham United last summer from Millwall Lionesses, who she joined from the Hammers back in August 2009.

She continued: “This season we’ve got a few new faces and at the moment I feel we have a good mixture of experience and youth.

“In some games we’ve needed the older ones to take the game by the scruff of the neck and help give the younger ones some guidance.

“But the young girls in our squad have that desire and hunger to get stuck in and fight for the win and I think gives us a bit of an edge.”

She added: “I really want to stay until we get promoted because I feel like I’ve got unfinished business here because we’ve been so close in the past and I don’t want to go without helping achieve this.”

West Ham Ladies are next playing at home on Sunday, November 18 against Tottenham in the FA Womens’ Premier League
Southern Division The game kicks off at 2pm.

The Ladies play their home games at Thurrock FC, Ship Lane, Grays, Essex, RM19 1YN.

Friday 2 November 2012

West Ham Ladies striker April Bowers hoping for a shower of goals

West Ham Ladies striker April Bowers has vowed to fire her side towards promotion this season.

The 18-year-old bagged the winner in the Ladies’ league game against Tottenham Hotspur which was also her first game back from an ankle injury.

And with her fitness picking up all the time, she has now set herself a goals target and hopes to make strides into that this weekend.

She said: “I wouldn’t say I’m 100pc fit at the moment but I’m getting there and my ankle feels good so I can’t wait to play this Sunday.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

“It was annoying to have been out so early in the season particularly as I felt my fitness was good and I was happy with how I was playing.

“We’ve been playing a 4-3-3 system this season and I’ve been playing out wide, up top – like an old school winger – and I love it because I love scoring goals. “I have set myself a target of getting at least 15 goals this season and help us really challenge for promotion.”

But she continued: “I wouldn’t say there is pressure on any one person to score all the goals and at the minute we are all chipping in with goals.

“Bex [Merritt] has got a few goals already, as has Lindsay [Morgan], and although I love scoring, it is nice when one of the other girls scores too.

“To be honest it doesn’t really matter where they are coming from, as long as the goals are going in and we are winning games that is all that matters.”

She added: “Bex [Merritt] has been one of the outstanding players so far this season. She is also always helping me and talking to me and trying to build my confidence.”

This season is the second the striker has played with the first team having come through the juniors and reserve sides.

She continued: “I love playing in the first team. I remember when I first started playing with the first team, I found it so fast but now I feel I have made the step up.

“It is a big step from the reserves to the first team but there are few girls who could come up and get into the squad and I hope they get their chance to.”

Asked how she thinks the Ladies’ season is going, April replied: “I think the season is going well so far.

“Losing out first game to Millwall was a bad start but we’ve picked ourselves up from that and we are all gelling well as a team and working hard in training.”

West Ham Ladies are next playing at home on Sunday, November 11 against Colchester United in the FA Womens’ Premier League Southern Division The game kicks off at 2pm.

The Ladies play their home games at Thurrock FC, Ship Lane, Grays, Essex, RM19 1YN.