Remi Allen: 'The fans were top class'

London City Lionesses head coach Remi Allen left no room for doubt regarding the importance of her side’s season finale clash against Lewes. 

“I’ve told the girls that this isn’t a nothing game,” she said on Friday, “it means something to the fans and it means something to the Club. I want us to put on a performance to be proud of.” 

They did.

Despite falling behind from a set-play, the Pride ran out 3-2 winners on Sunday [28 April], signing off from the season in style courtesy of goals by Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, Danielle Carter, and Emma Mukandi.

Allen fielded questions from reporters after the match, this is every word she said.

Remi, it was a 3-2 win to finish off the season – your thoughts on that performance?

Stressful, my blood pressure is through the roof. It was disappointing to concede from a set piece, but we controlled the game after that and could’ve put the game to bed with more goals. We were a little bit complacent, letting them back into the game. There were some really nice parts of the performance, but there were some really ugly parts too. I’m just happy to grind out the three points.

Did the situation with the pitch impact your preparations or did you just continue business as usual?

It was just business as usual – but the girls weren't daft and they were out on the touchline watching as we were out brushing the water off the pitch. That said, we started well, which probably shows the players weren’t affected.

Another high-class goal from Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, what did you make of her play?

I thought she was brilliant. Don’t get me wrong, I think she can score more and she had chances to do that in the second half – but, in my time here, she’s been top class. She’s given everything and I’m really happy that she was on the scoresheet.

We’ve been looking for cutback goals all season, was it satisfying to see Lucy Fitzgerald and Danielle Carter combine on one today?

It was really nice – and there were more opportunities to score more in that manner. Since I came in, the priority has been to make sure that we stayed in the league by conceding fewer goals. We haven’t done a lot of attacking work in training, so that was a little bit of creative freedom from them. 

Thoughts on Emma Mukandi’s goal…

Again, another banger – Mitch doesn’t score tap-ins. The beauty with Mitchy is that she can play with both feet and she can really strike a ball. It was a brilliant finish.

You spoke in the week about how this was an important game – are you satisfied with the buy-in from the group?

Like I said, I think we could’ve put the game to bed. However, we knew that Lewes would come with a response after being relegated but we managed it really well. My message to the team was that it would be really nice to finish the season on a high. I wanted twelve points out of the eighteen available and that’s what we were able to do. I think it’s an unbelievable achievement for the group.

Is there anything or anyone else you want to mention?

I always say it, but I thought the fans were top class. They were loud and proud and we could hear them throughout the game. You can see how much [the Club] means to them at the end of the game, so I’d like to thank them for tuning up and supporting us.