Goalscorer Carla Humphrey believes Arsenal’s never-say-die attitude got them over the line in a hard-fought FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup win over London Bees.
The WSL 2 side stunned their illustrious visitors when Amber Gaylor hit the opening goal, but Arsenal struck three times in 10 second-half minutes to gain their second win in the competition.
London Bees 1-3 Arsenal
FA WSL Continental Cup
Group One
The Hive
Wednesday 29 July 2015
Natalia Pablos Sanchon scored twice after 18-year-old Humphrey’s equaliser.
And the teenage midfielder admitted they had to dig deep for the win.
“It’s not good going in to the second half 1-0 down, but as a team we always had confidence in ourselves to pull it back and get the win,” said Humphreys.
“We did the same against Notts County at the weekend, and we played much better in the second 45 minutes – it was a fantastic team performance.
“As a team we’re very close and we have every confidence in each other to bring it back if we’re a goal down.
“The experience of our substitutes coming on and their skill coming forward built that confidence even more.
“I think they made a great impact and they took that into the rest of the team, and we got that result.”
Bees took the lead with Gaylor turning and trapping Emma Whitter’s short cross and sliding it with precision past goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal.
Pedro Martinez Losa made a double change at half-time and Marta Corredera and Dominique Janssen immediately added some impetus as Arsenal chased the game.
Humphrey, clearly reassured by the presence of her senior colleagues, levelled with a marvellous solo effort, chipping the helpless Sophie Harris.
And substitute Natalia put the visitors ahead after pouncing quickly on Jade Dempster’s mis-kick.
Then the pair combined brilliantly after 71 minutes for the Spain international to lash into the roof of the net.
And, having run Arsenal so close, Gaylor could not hide her disappointment at the result.
“It was a really hard second-half, and a hard result for us after going in at half-time one-up,” she said.
“It’s so disappointing. It seems like at half-time we just totally lose it.
“I don’t know what happens, but it keeps happening. I think we might get a little bit over-confident; we think we’ve got it, then people get caught out of position, maybe.
“We came into it knowing it was going to be a tough game against Arsenal, but that’s why we came out really hard right from the start, we were on top in the first half and we had a great attitude, and then it’s like we just got tired.”
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