Furness hails ‘massive’ win over Liverpool

Match-winner Rachel Furness underlined the importance of putting an early three points on the board in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League after Spurs Women saw off Liverpool 1-0 on Sunday.

Almost 1,000 fans witnessed history as midfielder Rachel won and subsequently converted a penalty shortly before half-time to become our first ever goalscorer in the top flight of women’s football, during what was our first home game in the division.

After being edged out by the only goal at Chelsea on the opening weekend, you sensed a real hunger from the players to get off the mark on matchday two at our new base at The Hive. And they certainly didn’t disappoint.

Controlling the game for large spells, we were well worth our 1-0 lead at the break, while goalkeeper Becky Spencer remained largely untroubled as we did a fine job of keeping the Reds – also chasing their first win of the season – at bay.

🗣 "The win is what the team deserved."

Yesterday's match-winner @Furney1988 on our first 3⃣ points in the @BarclaysFAWSL! 😁#THWFC ⚪ #COYS pic.twitter.com/qACtump6B5

— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen) September 16, 2019

“The longer the season goes on, when you're a newly-promoted side and you're not picking up the points, it does get nervy, so in our second game, to get three points is massive for the whole squad and the Club and hopefully we can really bounce on from this,” said the Northern Ireland international.

“I'm happy I got the goal but I think the result is just what the team deserved. We've done this as a squad and it's a great occasion for the team. We know what Liverpool are about – they’re a very good team, they're very direct and fast so we knew what we were up against but I thought the girls in defence were excellent today. In midfield and from the front as well, I feel like we were very organised and disciplined and we made it hard for Liverpool to create clear-cut chances.”

Thrown in for her Spurs debut at Stamford Bridge last weekend just days after signing on loan from Reading, Rachel was understandably pleased to open her goalscoring account after her first full week with the squad.

“Going into the Chelsea game, it was a test for myself and for the girls as I’d only been together with them for 48 hours but this week we’ve had a very good week’s training and it’s been great,” she added. “All the girls are a pleasure to work with. If I can help them as much as I can on and off the pitch, that's what I’ll do. I feel like I’ve settled in really well here.”