A-League Women’s coach Jeff Hopkins spoke to the media post-match after his side’s 2-0 win against Canberra United.
On the performance…
“I thought today was a dangerous game for us. They were on a high after last week.”
“The one thing that really pleased me was the way that we limited transition.”
“Very happy with the team from top to bottom, the way that we defended.”
“It’s still not the complete performance in possession that we wanted, in terms of being ruthless with our final ball and our finishing.”
“There are parts of the game that are better every week.”
On the red card…
“It did change the game and made it a lot tougher for Canberra to come back in the game.”
“But I thought we handled the game really well.”
“We could have done with putting another goal or two in to make things a little bit more comfortable for us.”
“But in general I thought we kept the ball well…and saw the game out pretty well.”
On Lia Privitelli’s return…
“It was great to get Lia back on the pitch.”
“Some of the one-on-one stuff that she did was excellent.”
“Great effort from her to come in and do as well as she did.”
On Elise Kellond-Knight’s return to form…
“What she has done so far has been amazing.”
“There are certain parts of her game that are still coming back – that’s how it is with any long-term injury.”
On Kurea Okino’s improved performances…
“It has taken a bit of time to get her up to speed.”
“There are still parts of her game that really need to be better.”
“But what you ask for from your number nine is goals – and she’s starting to find the back of the net now.”
“Obviously she’s happy as well that she’s starting to hit the back of the net.”
On Alana Murphy’s season…
“Murph has been excellent all season.”
“We know how valuable she is to us. She’s growing every week.”
“At times she can turn it on and do whatever she wants.”
“She’s getting stronger, her running power is getting better as well.”
“Just like everyone else, there are parts of her game that she needs to be better in. She needs to build that consistency.”
