Feature Interviews, Features
Cooper: The goal came from the girls working hard
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on February 28, 2011
Midfielder Deanna Cooper was one of the heroes of the hour on Sunday afternoon in the Gills win over Cardiff City.
The Ladies rising star netted a rare goal at a key time in the game that helped the Ladies come back from Wales with the three points.
Talking after the game, Dee said: “It was quite good to score today as I don’t normally score many, and it came at such an important time as first half we wasn’t playing well and we all knew this so to come out at half time and work our sock’s off was amazing to get the goal!
“The goal came from the girls working hard and we knew we had to do this, I think it was quite an important goal for the team as well as it seemed to kick start up into gear and from then on we played some quality football whilst running and running.”
It was one of the Ladies longest away trips of the season and for the Gills to come away with the three points it made it all the more special for Dee.
She added: “After such a long trip the three points made it even better, a few of us came up last night but for the players that came up this morning who were doing seven hours in the car it was good to be able to enjoy the trip home knowing we worked hard for the three points.”
The Gills weren’t exactly on it in the first half but the second half was performance was once again spot on from the Ladies.
“In the second half the performance was definitely there and over the last few weeks we’ve been playing well and not getting things out of the game, but hopefully now this is the turning point in the season for us and we can kick on from here and continue to show what we can do” said Dee.
So far this season the Gills have learnt a lot but it is clear they are finding their feet now and that Dee, Farms and Muggers are a perfect fit in the centre of the midfield something Dee herself agrees with.
She added: “It has been a bit of a learning curve especially for me and for the whole team because last year we won like 20 out of 24 games, but to come up a league and still be able to compete is brilliant! Last year we got used to winning and so we didn’t have to work as hard to get results, but this season you have to work hard week in week out and I think we’re getting to this now, and it showed today.
“It’s completely different to what we were playing last season, and we as a team I think have learnt a lot about the league and teams were up against! But now we’ve had a few good performances on the run and hopefully this will continue now.
“Over the last two seasons me Farms and Muggers in the middle has been quality as we are all quite different players, you have Farms who can produce things you wouldn’t think are possible, Muggers who can ping a pass to perfection and then me who just runs and runs! So because we’re all different it works quite well.
“The three of us have learnt how the other play which I think has helped us this season. We have in mind what each other is going to do which means we can back each other and help each other. Although today we played a different formation And it was just me and Muggers in the middle and I think after we got used to it, in the second half it paid off because we know how each other play and were able to just stick to our players and when we got the ball play it and then back the play up. We are quite lucky in the midfield as were the only group that hasn’t changed from last season so we were already quite settled in there.”
