View: Sophie Quirk can kickstart season after Portsmouth Women hat-trick heroics
Portsmouth Women have found the step up to the Championship tough going this season.
Their record in the league reads nine games played, zero victories, eight defeats, and just a solitary point since they were promoted and became a full-fledged professional outfit.
In those games, they have managed just two goals and conceded 26, statistics that show just how tricky the adjustment has been.
But look, Rome wasn’t built in a day and more will Pompey’s women become big hitters so soon after turning pro.
It’s about the incremental gains, it’s about finding positives in adversity, and it’s about toughing it out as you build step by step.
Portsmouth Women receive FA Cup boost
And one positive certainly arrived in the third round of the Women’s FA Cup as Luton Town Ladies were put to the sword in a 5-0 thumping at Westleigh Park (official website), which set up an away tie with either Kidderminster or Blackburn next month.
Another positive was the performance of attacker Sophie Quirk, who was the star of the show with a hat-trick.
Quirk has been a regular for Pompey Women this season but has yet to get off the mark in the Championship.
But her performance against Luton can certainly give her the confidence to take into the league and hopefully provide a fresh impetus to take some form into the league.
Quirk was one of five players to return to the starting line-up after missing out in the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Southampton Women in the League Cup.
And it was a brilliant return, with Quirk netting twice before the break before arrowing one into the bottom corner in the second half to complete a memorable outing.
Quirk was then replaced by Lily Dent and off to a warm reception. The caveat to her performance is obviously the fact this fixture was played against significantly lower opposition.
But goals are goals, and hopefully both Quirk and the team in general can gain a bit of confidence boost moving forward.
In other Portsmouth news, Don Goodman reflected on an injury blow for the men’s team this week.
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