AFC Bournemouth
Manager Steve Cuss praised “team player” Katie James for answering the call to don the goalkeeping gloves for AFC Bournemouth’s women on Sunday.
Midfielder James was deployed as a makeshift stopper after 26 minutes, during the club’s 4-2 victory at Bridgwater United.
She answered the call after Daniela Kosinska was forced off with the leg injury. Late goals from Kenni Thompson and Lucy Cooper ensured the Cherries kept up their winning record on the road.
Cuss told afcb.co.uk: “Full credit to KJ for stepping in and playing in goal.
“I do make the decisions and we could have had a goalkeeper on the bench but I’m always thinking of the attacking options we might need.
“It’s that balance between having a goalkeeper on the bench or not. KJ was very good in goal and we hope Dani recovers quickly.
“I knew she had done a little bit of it in beach soccer. So, I called her over and assessed our options.
“KJ said it was probably her or Erin (Bloomfield), I wanted KJ to do it to keep Erin up in the top line. Full credit to KJ for putting herself forward to do that, being the team player she is.”
Victory kept the Cherries eight points behind National League Division One South West leaders Exeter City at present, with two games in hand on the table-toppers.
Cuss’s side make the trip to face Southampton Women at Test Park on Thursday (7.45pm kick-off).
The manager said: “It’s on the edge of your seats stuff at the moment, isn’t it? The difference between a goal going in or not is massive.
“I was really pleased with our performance (at Bridgwater). We created a number of chances and that’s the main thing.
“If our performances are high then hopefully we get the results. Hopefully, it might not go as long as it did on Sunday but, if it does, the players have proven they can do it.”
