Gateshead Ladies’ assistant manager Tom Kelly-Hansford praised his side’s control of the game in Sunday’s opening day win over Redcar Town Ladies.
Gateshead rebounded from their Adobe Womens FA Cup exit at the hands of Workington Town Women to open the NERWFL season with a 3-1 win at Redcar Town last Sunday, with a brace from Jess Douglas and a sole strike from Charlotte Hoganson securing three points on match day one.
“Firstly, we’re delighted with the performance and the reaction that we got from the FA Cup game,” said Kelly-Hansford.
“It was much more of a Gateshead performance – our identity was clear to see from minute one. The biggest compliment I can give the lasses is that we never felt out of control of the game, even when we were defending and under periods of pressure.
“On the ball, our patterns were much clearer and we caused much more of a threat going forward – I think we were well worth the three points to be honest.
“Last Sunday [at Workington] we only had two outfield subs, and ended up with one of our goalkeepers coming off the bench and playing outfield, which wasn’t an ideal situation to be in.
“When you consider the FA Cup run the girls had last year, there was definitely a worry that exiting early could cause a hangover for us, but they dusted themselves off amazingly and the reaction was superb.
“It shows the camaraderie in the group, and there is a real feel-good factor at the moment so it’s a really exciting time for the girls moving forward.
“Carl [Morrison] has worked hard over the summer, and since I’ve come we’ve really tried to drill in our identity and how we want to play. At times you want to play out from the back, but be comfortable under pressure doing that.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, especially when you consider some of the under-16s that are coming through in their first year of proper senior football, and some girls that maybe haven’t ever experienced playing that brand of football.
“It’s a credit to how well the pre-season has gone for us – the girls have trained hard week in, week out, numbers for training have always been high, and the attention to detail that the girls put in during the sessions is on another level.
“Carl mentioned to me a few weeks ago that the sessions this summer have been some of the best that he can remember, and that’s testament to the effort that everyone is putting in.”
The Heed play their first home game of the season at Gateshead International Stadium (4G) with NERWFL newcomers i2i International Soccer Academy the visitors on Sunday, September 15 (2pm kick off) – a game in which Kelly-Hansford will also makes his home dugout debut.
“The first two months or so have been really enjoyable,” he added.
“I was, not in a disrespectful way, taken aback by the quality this group had when I first came in, and their ability to play that brand of football and control games in the way that they do.
“The girls have taken to me a lot more over the past few weeks and I’ve begun to settle in – it’s a really top group and one I’m optimistic about going forward and that I think can go on to achieve good things.
“We’re looking forward to being back on home soil. The 4G surface probably suits us, particularly at this time of year when you’re coming into the wetter weather, and I think the way we want to play leans itself more to what we have to work with on the 4G.
“They [i2i] are a bit of an unknown entity, but we expect them to be a strong team who will be quite physical and fast in the tempo of their game, but we’ve just got to focus on perfecting what we’re looking to do, and we’re confident that will be enough on the day.”
