Aston Villa boss Ward reflects on score draw against Brighton | OneFootball

The points were shared in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Saturday afternoon as Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion played out a 1-1 draw at The Poundland Bescot Stadium.

A Kayleigh Green own goal in the first half gave Aston Villa the advantage before Brighton & Hove Albion captain Julia Zigiotti Olme secured a point for her team with a goal late on in the game.

After the match, FAWSL Full-Time heard from Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward who said that her side should have come away with all three points.

“We’re frustrated but you can see from their celebrations, they are celebrating like they’ve won the game,” Ward said. “They tried to slow the game down but we were sloppy.

“We’ve got to be better, no disrespect to Brighton but we should have won all three points today.”

After an attacking first half from The Villans, the Midlands club appeared to step off the mark during the second 45 minutes which ultimately cost them the full three points.

“The good thing is that we’ve not lost the game,” Ward added. “We were dominant for 90 minutes but it’s a couple of errors here and there and somehow, they’ve managed to walk away with the point.

“We’ll pick this group up, they are hungry to improve all the time. They’ll be hungry to make sure we are better next week and we go to Brighton hoping to get three points.”

Aston Villa’s new additions, including midfielder Jordan Nobbs, looked settled and content at their new club. The experience that the new faces bring to the team has helped them slot into an already very close-knit unit.

Commenting on her new players, Ward said “They’ve been very good, they add a lot of quality, they are winners and are hungry. They are experienced; right now when it feels like a loss, they play a big part in picking the dressing room up.”

The match officials came in for some criticism during the match and Ward emphasised the continued need to drive forward the standard of officiating.

She said “We’re talking about professional football, a professional league and players that get out of bed every day and it’s their profession. What we’ve had today is amateur officiating and it’s not okay.

“Every manager, player and fan want the standards to go up but there’s a lot of talk and not a lot of action.”

Aston Villa travel to Brighton & Hove Albion to contest the reverse fixture on Sunday.