All about the work ethic: Lewes FC Women’s boss Booth hails team after Lionesses are beaten

Despite being a goal down to London City Lionesses inside 16 minutes, an equaliser from Holly Olding and a beautiful curled free kick from Anna Grey brought a much-needed victory at the Dripping Pan.

It’s a second league victory of the season for Lewes who sit 11th in the Women’s Championship just above the single relegation place as they go into a break from league action.

Manager Booth was pleased with the result, highlighting the impact of windy conditions and his team’s resilience to turn things round in the second half.

“For me the pleasure in this result is all about the work ethic, the amount that the players have put into all the games so far – a lot of games have been so close this season,” said Booth.

“We put ourselves into difficult positions in the first half – the wind was so strong in the opposition’s favour, putting undue pressure on our back line.”

The Lionesses goal came from a defensive mix-up that Booth associated with the wind.

“We talked at half-time about using the elements as best we could in the second half,” Booth added. “Because we had the wind in the second half, we were able to move sharper and expose London City a bit more.”

Booth, speaking to the Lewes FC media team, said his side had lost out too many times this season on close margins, with four of their past five league games ending in losses by one goal.

“A lot of the games so far have been so close, it was nice this time the team got what they deserved,” he added. “I thought our back line was stronger in the second half, the midfield was really aggressive, and I constantly had the feeling we were going to come out with the ball when we went in for challenges.”

Grey’s free-kick was the matchwinner, and Booth was full of praise after what he said had been a frustrating few weeks for the midfielder.

“Anna’s become a little frustrated over the last few weeks, she shows some amazing moments in games, she’s incredibly athletic and an amazing talent. Today she was able to influence it, she’s got a great strike. It was one of the reasons I kept her on.”