Women's football news
Written by: Joe
Paula Howells says the three points Lewes earned against Charlton on Sunday were just reward for the team’s hard work in their search for a first league win of the season.
Howells’ second-half screamer and Ellie Hack’s early opener were enough to see the Rooks past Charlton with a 2-1 victory that lifts the team to eighth in the Women’s Championship.
The win comes after last week’s stoppage-time defeat at Durham, which in itself fell after four straight league draws for the team.
And Howells reckons it was team togetherness that secured Sunday’s victory and delighted the vocal crowd at the Dripping Pan.
“The team’s buzzing for this!” she said after the game. “We’ve worked really hard for it and even though we’ve had a solid start with all the draws, the three points is exactly what we needed to kick on.
“I think we deserved it today after all the graft that everyone has put in, week-in, week-out. We’re really, really happy to win it, especially in front of our fans!
“Durham is always a hard place to go and the girls were a little bit deflated afterwards. We knew we could do better and that we had some much more to give.
“It’s meant that in the week in training we’ve worked even harder and stayed positive, that mindset has been key. We’ve looked forward to this win and we knew we’d do it as soon as we stepped on the pitch. We didn’t panic and it finally came!”
Howells is renowned for scoring the odd worldie and it was her right-footed strike on 53 minutes that clipped in off the crossbar to restore Lewes’ lead.
Discussing her goal, she said: “I can’t even remember it! I’ll need to watch it back.
“All I know is it was my right foot and that very rarely happens. I’m delighted with it though. I thought I was a tap-in player these days but obviously I’m not done with the worldies!”
Next up for Lewes is a trip to Coventry United on Sunday 30 October at 2pm, before the Rooks host Bristol City a week later – the day after Bonfire! – at 3pm. Beach huts and match tickets are still available for the Bristol game.