When Chelsea and England right back Reece James turned up at Kingsmeadow on Thursday night, 23 minutes into the Champions League match against Servette, you sensed he might have had a tip-off.
Sure enough, five minutes before the end of what was – it must be admitted – an at-times frustrating match for Chelsea Women, on bounded his sister Lauren, to the delight of fans.
Reece’s entry to the stadium, his hoody pulled up and mates on either side, caused the biggest stir of a goalless first half against a team of Swiss misses who had shipped seven goals in Geneva only a week ago.
But when Sam Kerr found some rare space in front of goal in the 67th minute, and fired Chelsea ahead, the relief was overwhelming.
Manager Emma Hayes had already lined up Jessie Fleming, Erin Cuthbert and Mellie Leupolz on the touchline to come on for Beth England, Jonna Andersson and Sophie Ingle, and their task was swiftly repurposed... to hold on to the lead.
Lauren James looked on good form when she joined them (in place of Fran Kirby), but she remained a lone striker up front, with all the real energy going into preserving the advantage.
Hayes was critical afterwards. It was, she admitted, “nowhere near our standards”, adding: “We should be winning these games... they’re a part-time team.”
Sam Kerr added: “The energy and attitude in the second half was better. It’s nice to be at home again, back in our own beds, after so long away!”
On Lauren James’s debut, Hayes said she had held up play well, linked play professionally, and could have bagged two goals in her short time on the pitch. “She showed the technical qualities she can bring to the team, and I’m looking forward to building on that.”
After five away fixtures in succession, Chelsea have three home ties in a week, starting with Birmingham’s visit on Sunday in the WSL.
The club has taken advantage of the gap in matches to do some localised rebuilding at the stadium in Kingston, with new tiered, padded seating in place of the tired old ground-level dugouts, and extra desks installed in the press area in anticipation of European floodlit nights ahead. So new was the wood that the varnish was still wet!
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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