Post-match Reaction: Jeff Hopkins on Sydney draw

A-League Women’s coach Jeff Hopkins spoke to the media post-match after his side’s 1-1 draw with Sydney FC.

On the performance…

“Little bit disappointed with our overall performance.”

“There were things I liked about it, one or two good individual performances.”

“The way that we kind of hung on in there, showed good character.”

“Probably didn’t turn out the way that we expected it in terms of the way that we played with the ball, our progression from back to front didn’t really happen.”

“We live to fight another day and we move on.”

On Jamilla Rankin’s performance…

“I thought Jamilla was excellent.”

“She had a really tough opponent in Cortnee Vine.”

“The way that we set up and the way that she set herself up was excellent.”

“She limited the amount of times that Cortnee could turn and face her to isolate her one-on-one, and when she did Jamilla did really well in those duels.”

“Very pleased for her. A young player that was given a specific task today and she did it really well.”

On Courtney Newbon’s addition to the team…

“Excellent.”

“Courtney’s been great. We threw her in at the deep end when Lyds (Lydia Williams) got injured a few weeks ago.”

“She’s definitely not let us down.”

“She made one or two really good saves today.”

“Since she’s been in the side she’s grown in confidence and she’s kept us in a few games.”

On Emily Gielnik’s fitness…

“We did get more game time out of her today.”

“She’s now getting to the stage where she’s going to be unrestricted in starting games.”

On three games unbeaten…

“The positive is we didn’t lose the game today.”

“Sometimes one point isn’t what you need, but it keeps us moving forward and keeps the confidence growing.”