Karen Hills said she was proud of her team after they pushed WSL side Liverpool all the way in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. The game ended 1-0 to Liverpool, with the winning goal coming in the 115th minute of the game during extra time.
It was a cruel way for the Addicks to lose, having done so well to take the game that far, but Hills said that the performance, despite the result, was outstanding.
"It was a cup game that we took all the way until the very end. I’m so proud of the group and the players; they gave absolutely everything today, and I think we should be really pleased with ourselves and proud of our performance today because we pushed a good WSL team all the way to extra time.
"I think it was a bit of a messy goal, but, at the end of the day, a goal and in the latter stages, but I thought our players were outstanding today from minute one, right until the very end. They dug deep, and I’m super proud of that performance."
The game was played in front of a record crowd for a women's game at the Valley, with over 2100 fans in attendance. It was the biggest Charlton Women's crowd in 20 years, and Hills was so happy with the noise and encouragement the fans gave the players.
"Just want to say a huge thank you to every single one of them [the fans] who turned out today. The energy that we felt from behind, the way they encouraged and supported the team all the way through the game, I thought was excellent and outstanding, and that makes me proud to see so many bums on seats.
"We talk about the game and the indentity of our team, and that we want to make people proud that are affilliated with Chartlon, and I really hope that every single person that watched that game feels proud of the way the that their players played today, because I thought they gave absolutely everything, and it was an exciting game, and I’m super proud of them and I hope every fan is as well."
The cup run is sadly over, but now the women have an international break, before returning to WSL2 action against Southampton at the end of April. Hills said that her team will look to "reset" during the break after a "tough block" of games since the last international break.
Hills said: "It’s an opportunity for us to reset. I think this block, if we look at it, it’s been a tough block for us. But what I would say is that we are going to really focus on that performance today. That performance, the way that we played, the character that we showed, the way that we fought for each other, those are the positives that we are going to take into our remaining block of work. We’re going to have two weeks, a little bit of time to rest and recover.
"I say to the players, there’s probably about 6-7 weeks left, potentially, of this season, and we have to enjoy these moments together. And with performances like that, you can see why they are where they are this season because of how hard they work, the determination and that togetrherness and I’m really proud of every single one of them today, and we will enjoy a little bit of downtime as well."
