Tottenham manager Rehanne Skinner blamed her side’s inability to manage momentum for passing up the chance to go second after conceding a late equaliser against West Ham.
Spurs looked set for three points in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League after Rosella Ayane’s 54th-minute penalty had given them a 1-0 lead at home.
Things got worse for the Hammers when Hawa Cissoko, who had escaped a second booking for fouling Jiali Tang, was given her marching orders two minutes later for booting the ball away in frustration.
However, her blushes were spared when lifelong Hammers fan Kate Longhurst scored a looping header in stoppage time to rescue a point.
Skinner said: “I just think we didn’t manage the momentum at the end of the game like we have in the past.
“We could have made sure that we were more resolute and disciplined in our defending in the final moments.”
Despite the setback which leaves the north Londoners in fourth place, Skinner was still very pleased with her side’s performance but lamented their failure to kill off the game.
She added: “Overall, I thought we played really well. We dominated the game from start to finish and created a number of chances off the back of that.
“I think the bottom line is if we don’t make sure that we finish those opportunities when presented to us, we leave ourselves open to making more mistakes. We defended brilliantly throughout the game.”
Spurs had a numerical advantage for over 35 minutes of the second-half and despite piling the pressure on West Ham goalkeeper Anna Leat, they were unable to find a crucial second goal.
Skinner said: “When teams go down to ten players, they generally raise their game and it makes it actually harder when you play against ten sometimes.
“For us, it was about sticking to our game plan and the pockets of space that we could exploit were still available to us.”
Ayane scored from the spot after Tang was felled by a clumsy challenge from Cissoko with Skinner adamant referee Amy Fearn made the right call.
She explained: “Our movement was creating problems and drawing defenders. Essentially, Jiali [Tang] then just created problems for defenders in that situation.
“The penalty was justified and at the end of the day, it gives us the opportunity to get a goal and a bit of leg up at the time.”
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