Women start 2022 with Chesham win
AFC Bournemouth
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AFC Bournemouth women moved up to second in the National League South West Division with a 2-0 win at Chesham United yesterday.
Lucy Cooper and Katie James netted either side of the break in what was the first game of 2022 for the Cherries.
Steve Cuss' team remain unbeaten in league action, with six wins and three draws to their name in their maiden season of step four football.
After the game, he spoke with afcb.co.uk about the performance and his delight at the win.
"I was really pleased and I thought the performance was very good," he began.
"We scored a goal in each half and we had opportunities to get a couple more. On top of that, we defended well so we're really pleased with the performance.
"We hadn't played for a month as well because of the Christmas break and a cancellation either side of that.
"Fair play to the players, they played very well and their fitness levels were very good. It's testament to their commitment over the Christmas period because we trained a lot.
"We of course had a small break, but we were straight back into training. I think that showed yesterday with their fitness, especially in the latter part of the game as fitness levels came through strongly.
"Their commitment over Christmas and new year to remain fit and strong was excellent and it showed against Chesham."
Cuss went on to discuss his delight at the clean sheet, which was the side's sixth in the league this season having played just nine times.
"Chesham are a real threat going forward. They've got some good players and the league's leading goalscorer too, so we had to defend well.
"The five of them, the back four and the goalkeeper, defended very strongly and got better as the game went on as well.
"Chesham caused us some problems early on, but we defended well and grew into it in that element.
"Ultimately, it's another clean sheet for them and it's fully deserved with some good performances from them all."
Cuss concluded by admitting how pleased he was to see the game go ahead, having had over a month without a fixture, the last competitive game being on 12th December.
"To be honest, we just want to play," he said.
"We had the frustration of a few cancellations that coincided with the Christmas break, so it means that we had a month off.
"The players don't want that, they just want to keep playing and I could see the real enthusiasm levels that were there.
"Everyone was pleased to be back out there and excited to be back on the pitch.
"With the cup match this week, it would've been more difficult to go into that having not have some games, so hopefully we can play week-in, week-out and get some more results."