Disappointed with own performance

15 August 2011

Disappointed with own performance

Bristol Academy ended their WSL home campaign on Saturday night with a disappointing defeat to Everton Ladies.

After consecutive away wins at Liverpool and Doncaster the Vixens went into match against last season’s Champions League quarter finalists hoping to build on their recent form. However a strong second half performance from Everton meant Academy manager Mark Sampson was left to reflect on his team’s third home defeat of the season.

“We are disappointed with our own performance and obviously the end result; we just didn’t have our usual intensity. For the first time at home this season we haven’t made the opponent really work for their win which is very disappointing. That’s not taking anything away from Everton who after their first goal in particular played very well. It’s frustrating and difficult to analyse our performance as we didn’t have the intensity we need to play to our level. Other than Siobhan and Jemma who were excellent we just didn’t do enough.

“Bristol Academy is a very special football club to be part of and the players must be aware of their responsibilities as a player at our football club, that means every player putting the club first ahead of anything else. We must ensure the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and to be competitive at this level we must have a complete group effort with everyone fighting for each other to push in the same direction. That is what this club has been built on and being true to our identity we need to show this quality. We will need to do some soul searching this week and maybe make some tough decisions to make sure we are ready to go to Chelsea Thursday and fight as a team to get a result.”

The defeat signalled the Vixens final WSL home match of the season and with the club enjoying such fantastic support all season the manager thanked everyone who has come to the Stoke Gifford Stadium this season for their incredible support.

“All season the supporters have been fantastic, today was no exception. We are the best supported club in the league in terms of attendances and without doubt we have the best supporters. We are bitterly disappointed we didn’t give the supporters a better performance today to thank them for all their support this season. There has been a real connection between the players on the pitch and the supporters off it this season, a connection that is unique to this league. In the Birmingham and Arsenal games in particular there was a real connection between the supporters and the players, at times it felt as if everyone in the ground was beating with the same heart. This support has truly inspired the players and we thank everyone who has come to support us this season.”

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