Megan Finnigan shares ‘major disappointment’ for Everton Women after defeat v Brighton
Everton Women captain Megan Finnigan has shared her “major disappointment” after her side fell to a 2-1 defeat to Brighton on the opening day of the Women’s Super League season.
Brighton took a two-goal lead after just 14 minutes in an awful start for the Toffees, and although Finnigan pulled a goal back, the side were unable to overcome the deficit to turn the result around.
Finnigan has been critical of their inability to convert chances despite creating a number of opportunities to get themselves back in the game but has called for fans to take positives from the defeat.
Speaking to Everton’s official website on 2 October, the captain shared: “The overriding feeling is major disappointment.
“We obviously wanted to start the season with a win as did everyone, but we started the game way too slow, and we got punished for it. Two really sloppy goals we conceded.
“The second half was a lot better, a lot of positives to take from it, but when you start a game as slowly as we did, then we gave ourselves a big mountain to climb.
“We couldn’t get back into the game, we created good chances, but we couldn’t convert them. The game’s done. We can only reflect on it and take the positives. Take the negatives as learning experiences. It happened too many times last season, it can’t happen again.”
A poor start
Everton began their season with hopes of securing a top-four place after their sixth-placed finish last time out. Suffering defeat on the opening day will be a minor setback, but the focus should be more on the way the team bounce back now.
If they can secure all three points from their visit to Leicester on 8 October, the woes of the opening day will be forgotten and views put forward towards potential successes this season.
Leicester won their opening day fixture 4-2 against Bristol City, but the two goals conceded will be something Everton can look to exploit with their attacking talent, and they will be hoping to convert their opportunities better than they managed against Brighton.
The captain’s words here should be taken by the squad. Now is the time to learn from the mistakes, and if there was ever a time you can afford to suffer poor results it’s at the start of the season with plenty of room to grow and learn as they go.
In other Everton news, Frank Lampard has slammed desperate staff after relegation talk.