Jay Sadler loved unseen half-time moment despite Portsmouth Women loss vs Brighton
Portsmouth Women fell to a 2-0 defeat against Brighton in the Women’s League Cup on Wednesday.
First-half goals from Carla Camacho and skipper Marisa Olislagers condemned Pompey to a defeat against a well-organised Brighton team, who finished fifth in the Women’s Super League (WSL) last season.
Michelle Agyemang, who won the Young Player of the Tournament award for her efforts with England at the Women’s Euro 2025, came on as a substitute in the second half, highlighting Brighton’s strength in depth.
Despite the defeat, manager Jay Sadler said that he was proud of his team’s efforts throughout the match.
Jay Sadler praises half-time moment that demonstrates attitude of his Portsmouth Women team
Sadler had criticised the performance of his Portsmouth Women team a few days prior, despite them beating Sheffield United 1-0 at Fratton Park to claim their first victory of the season.
This time around, he said he was proud of how his team played despite losing this cup tie.
He was also keen to praise the attitude of some of his players after the conversations they had at half-time.
During Sadler’s half-team talk, both Annie Wilding and Jemima Dahou admitted that they should have done better for Brighton’s first goal before they were even told anything.
In his post-match interview, Sadler said: “They’ve both come in for their first 90 today, so it’s going to be new surroundings for them, and what I really liked is the accountability shown at half-time just to say ‘Listen, we should have done better in that moment’.”
Brighton defeat will teach some important lessons to Portsmouth Women players
This was always going to be a difficult match for Portsmouth Women, particularly coming so soon after the win against Sheffield United.
There’s no shame in losing a cup game to a team who plays at a higher level than you, and this defeat will likely have given Sadler and his team some important lessons that can aid them throughout the rest of the season.
| Date | Competition | Opponent |
| 5 October | Women’s Championship | Nottingham Forest (A) |
| 8 October | Women’s League Cup | Southampton (A) |
| 12 October | Women’s Championship | Southampton (H) |
| 19 October | Women’s League Cup | Charlton (A) |
One of those lessons will be about the importance of solid defending. There’s nothing playing against a ruthless team from a higher division to drill that lesson into your mind. However, Sadler’s team will also have learned a lot about how well they can compete because they were much improved in the second half.
If they can take that level of performance into their future league and cup games, they’ll have a great chance of securing some more positive results.
Portsmouth Women are facing bitter rivals Southampton in their next League Cup fixture, then again in the league a few days later.
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