Essex County Cup glory awaits for West Ham Ladies despite departure of manager Mark Saunderson

West Ham Ladies are 90 minutes away from Essex County Cup glory after seeing off C&K Basildon in a semifinal penalty shoot-out.

The match finished 1-1 after extra time, with an early Lily Mellors strike being cancelled out just seconds later by a headed Basildon equaliser.

However, the Hammers emerged victorious after ‘keeper Lauren Picton saved two penalties in the shoot-out and defender Danica Revell notched the winning spot-kick to put the Ladies through.

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Speaking to Blowing Bubbles after the game, Danica said: “I wasn’t nervous about taking the penalty. I was just excited that if I scored then we would go through.

“I have never really taken penalties before and this was the first time I had taken one in a penalty shootout. I think some of the others might have been a bit nervous about me, a defender, taking one but I knew where I was going and confident I’d score because we had practised them before and I always go the same way.

“Now we have got a cup final to look forward to and we are all buzzing for it. It’s going to be a great game and I really can’t wait because it has been a tough season for me.

“I was out for a little while because I had an operation on my foot and then when I came back we had the break over Christmas and didn’t play for ages because of the weather.

“It has also been tough because I have always played with Rosey (Sullivan) so when she left, I had to adapt to playing next to other centre backs. I’ve been playing with Hayley (West) and Jemma (Beard) and we are starting to build good partnerships.”

The only sour note from the cup semi-final was an injury to skipper Stacey Little which forced the midfielder off the field after just 15 minutes. However, a hospital scan revealed that the injury is not as bad as first feared and Little has a fighting chance of leading the Ladies out in the final.

The Irons, who remain under the joint management of coach Steve Spence and director of football Julia Setford after Mark Saunderson's resignation last week, will now take on local rivals Barking in the final, which will be played at AFCHornchurch on 17 April.

Mark Saunderson’s departure came after a largely frustrating season so far which has seen the Hammers win just three games out of 12 in the FA Women's Premier League South.

A club statement, released ahead of the Ladies’ County Cup clash against Colchester United on March 3, read: "We announce with regret that the first team manager, Mark Saunderson has left the club with immediate effect. After speaking with the chairman it was decided that it would be best for both parties and the chairman accepted Mr Saunderson resignation.”

The Ladies returned to Premier League action last Sunday and they lost to Charlton Athletic.

The Hammers are scheduled to take on Keynsham Town and Brighton & Hove Albion at home in the league on March 23 and 30 respectively.

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

Centre back Danica Revells’s praise for new signings and captain Rosey Sullivan

The West Ham Ladies have had a fantastic start to 2013, comfortably beating London Corinthians away in the cup and Gillingham away in league.

The Ladies return to cup action this weekend at home to Witham Town where they hope to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to five games.

Speaking exclusively to Blowing Bubbles, centre back Danica Revell has been delighted with how the side has started the year after a frustrating end to 2012 where the Ladies endured a run of cancelled games because of the weather.

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She has also been pleased to see the Ladies’ new signings get the chance to show what they can offer the team.

Reflecting on the Ladies season, she said: “We have had games where we haven’t played up to the high standards we know we are capable of but most of the time we’ve done really well this season. We’ve got great team spirit.”

The return of striker Kelley Blanchflower has also pleased the centre half. Kelley broke her collarbone during the Ladies’ 2-0 win at QPR in September.

“Kel has been training really hard and was doing really well in training before she got back in the team,” Danica continued.
“I’m delighted to see her come back. It’s a huge boost for us because we will need her scoring goals to help with our push for promotion.”

She added: “We’re still very much in the fight for promotion and hopefully, fingers crossed, we will get it. If we keep putting in the hard effort and not let it slip, then we will be pushing for promotion right till the end of the season.”

Danica’s partnership with captain Rosey Sullivan has been the subject of huge praise from her teammates as have their individual performances.

“I have a great partnership with Rosey,” Danica said. “We’ve played together for a couple of years now and we also went to the academy at Leyton Orient.

“We know each other’s game, inside out and play the same way. We also get along really well, which I think has been key to some of our performances this season.”

Since joining the Hammers back in the summer of 2010, Danica feels her time with the club has been the best period of her career so far, highlighted by being named West Ham United Ladies ‘Young Player of the Year’ last season.

She concluded: “I feel that I am developing towards my full potential and have found my place within the team. I am thoroughly enjoying being part of the West Ham team. We all get on very well and although we train extremely hard, we also have a lot of laughs throughout training.”

Frustration as weather halts West Ham Ladies promotion bid

As the West Ham Ladies prepare to take to the pitch again after their Christmas break, there is an air of frustration amongst the squad still hoping to secure promotion this season.

The Ladies resume their season on Sunday in a cup game against London Corinthians but they will have to wait until the following week to return to league action.

The Ladies are currently fifth in the Premier League Southern Division but have only played seven games so far this season while their promotion rivals have all played more.

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Their four wins, one draw and two defeats means they are currently eight points adrift from leaders Reading but the Ladies can cut this to two points by winning their games in hand.

Their last league outing on November 18 saw them thrash Tottenham Hotspur Ladies 3-0 but the bad weather saw the rest of their games for 2012 called off and prevented them continuing their unbeaten run heading into Christmas.

Speaking exclusively to Blowing Bubbles, centre back Danica Revell said: “It has been really annoying to not have played since November. We thought all the games were going to go ahead on the day and got all ready to go only to then get the call to say the game was off.

“It has been very frustrating for all of us because we want to be out there winning games. Despite this, we’ve still been training hard and doing a lot of fitness but it isn’t the same as actually playing games and having match fitness.”

She added: “We’re still fighting for promotion and, I believe, we will get it if we keep putting in the hard effort and ensure we play to the high standards we know we are capable of.”

Meanwhile forward Becky Merritt added: “We are currently sitting in fifth but we’ve only played seven games while others have played like 10 or 12. So providing we capitalize on these games in hand, our bid for promotion is still on course.

“It’s been massively frustrating to not play but we were quite lucky that over the Christmas period we were able to train indoors at Chadwell Health which which I hope will give us a huge advantage when we start playing again in the New Year.

“We hit a good run of form before the games started being called off so I am now hoping we can hit the ground running in the New Year and start getting the wins we need.”

She added: “The positives from the first half of the season have to be the youngsters coming through and the signings we have made.

“The negatives, for me, were the lack of games and our loss against Millwall on the opening game of the season.

“The latter is something which has bugged me all season and something I hope to put right when we play them again.”

Captain Rosey Sullivan's plea for West Ham Ladies to maintain unbeaten run

West Ham Ladies captain Rosey Sullivan has called on her teammates to pick up maximum points in their next two games and extend their unbeaten run in the league to six games.

The 20-year-old has been in impressive form of late and has formed a strong partnership with fellow centre half Danica Revell which has helped the Ladies pick up 10 points in their last four games.

The pairing looked particularly strong against Tottenham Hotspur Ladies’ pacy forwards earlier this month, keeping a clean sheet as the Hammers ran out 1-0 winners.

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Rosey said: “It was a great win against Tottenham and a great team performance. I felt we really clicked as a team for the first time this season and I was, obviously, delighted with the clean sheet.

“I didn’t play in the last game against Tottenham in the league cup which we lost but I was told their wingers were brilliant that night and I thought we did well to keep them quiet.

“We’ve now got Lewes and Yeovil in the league which I think are both very winnable games for us. We will go into both these games pushing for all three points and we have to keep the same fighting attitude for ever y game.”

She added: “All games in this league are a battle and both Lewes and Yeovil are big sides and quite aggressive so I’m hoping we can get the ball down and play around them.”

This is Rosey’s first season as captain but admits it’s a role she loves and wants to keep for the rest of the season.

Referring to her partnership with Danica, she continued: “I think this is the third season we have played together now and I love having her next to me. We both went to the same academy - Leyton Orient Centre of Excellence – so we were taught to play the same way which has helped us to forge this partnership.

“I feel she does the same job as me and stops me from worrying because I know she’s got my back. She is the only centre back I’ve really enjoyed playing with because she is such a strong player and I think people like the way we play together.

Hopefully we can continue to play well together.”

The captain has also been impressed by the performances of goalkeeper Toni Anne Wayne this season.

She continued: “It’s great to play in front of Toni. She has been a big player for us so far this season, pulling off some great saves and she is always talking to me.

She added: “Her penalty save in the Tottenham game was brilliant. I was amazed she managed to get there because it was right in the corner and that save was really the difference between us getting three points and just one.”

West Ham Ladies are playing at home to Lewes in the FA Womens’ Premier League Southern Division on Sunday. The game kicks off at 2pm.

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