Following her battling and commanding performance in West Ham United women’s team’s victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, captain Katrina Gorry was presented with the Barclays Women’s Super League Player of the Match award.
While she was not on the scoresheet, the 32-year-old led her team to a memorable 2-0 win at Chigwell Construction Stadium - getting stuck into tackles, firing shots from outside the box and even pulling out a successful roulette on the edge of her own penalty area.
Rehanne Skinner’s side were up and running after 16 minutes when Josefine Rybrink inadvertently diverted Verena Hanshaw’s shot into her own net, and continued to cause problems for the Spurs backline.
Oona Siren nearly headed home her first Hammers goal shortly before half-time, but sent her effort straight at the gloves of Lize Kop. Then, in the second half, Gorry fired in a strike from range that the Tottenham goalkeeper clawed away to Shekiera Martinez, who struck the side netting.
But the Hammers’ persistence was rewarded with a clinching second in the 90th minute, when Viviane Asseyi’s free-kick snuck past plenty of bodies in the penalty area into the far corner of the net - her tenth goal in all competitions this season.
It was Gorry, who has featured in every WSL match this term, who was handed the individual accolade after the derby-day success, but she was quick to recognise the effort from her side throughout the 90 minutes in east London.