Lewes’ summer signing Hollie Olding scored on her competitive debut for The Rooks in their 4-1 defeat against Southampton at The Dripping Pan yesterday.
The midfielder, who joined the club following a spell with Crystal Palace, looped the ball over visiting keeper Kayla Rendell from 25 yards to give her side a short-lived advantage.
When speaking to the media after the match, Olding was pleased with her goal, although she was disappointed not to come away with the win on opening day.
“I’m happy with my goal, but then I just wanted to get three points,” Olding said. “It would have been nice if I could have contributed more before they got their second (goal).
“We’ve just got to go again next week.”
Olding was one of seven new signings to start the match for Lewes. Grace Riglar, Grace Garrad, Caragh Hamilton, Maria Farrugia, Anna Grey, and Sarah Brasero-Carreira joined Olding in the starting line-up for the first time. Speaking about life at her new club, Olding said that she has felt very welcome from the day that she arrived at The Dripping Pan.
She said “I really like Scott [Booth] and the backroom staff. I just love what Lewes stand for as a club and their values in the community.
“When there’s good people, it’s a great environment. It’s been easy to settle in.”
Looking ahead, Lewes travel to Durham at the weekend for their next match. The Wildcats claimed a narrow 2-1 victory over Lewes at The Dripping Pan in the final game of last season. Olding is feeling positive about the latest meeting in the North East.
“I’m happy to get Durham out of the way early because it’s always such a long journey,” Olding said.
“I think the girls will be looking forward to it. I know on Saturday on the journey up there, we’ll be buzzing to play them. If we do what we did today [against Southampton] in the first half over 90 minutes, I think we’ll get the job done.”
Lewes face Durham in their second Barclays Women’s Championship fixture of the season on Sunday afternoon.