Portsmouth’s Angelina Nixon announced her arrival in WSL2 in the most spectacular fashion, with an incredible long-range effort as she came on as substitute against Ipswich Town.
And her strike has just been named the division’s goal of the month for September.
The 23-year-old has stepped into the second tier for the first time after a solid career in the FA Women’s National League, most recently with Rugby Borough.
But she has always been confident she could shine at a higher level – even if her goal took even her by surprise.
“First time being in the Championship, I was a bit surprised and shocked myself, really!” she told SheKicks.net. “And then obviously being on limited minutes as well, coming on from the bench – I didn’t know I had it in me, to be honest.
“I was just thinking, ‘Might as well poke from there. No one’s shooting on this pitch, I’m going to come on and shoot,’ and then that’s what I’ve done.
“I do think that’s probably the best goal I’ve ever scored – I can just put my hand on my heart and say that.”
Nixon: Moving to Portsmouth was a no-brainer
It’s clear that with goals like that, Nixon is feeling settled and comfortable at her new club.
“I do love the team, to be honest. I do really love them. The community, togetherness, is why I score goals like that.
“I want to put everything into the team.”
Choosing a move to Portsmouth was, she says, “a no-brainer”.
“I’m the sort of player who wants to get better and better and better, so I want to go to a better team, where there’s better players, who I’m [surrounding] myself with, teams who I’m playing against who are better players,” she explains.
“I was in tier three for a good four years now. I’ve got my foot in there, got all the goals and assists I needed, and then I was like, ‘Right. It’s a step up now.'”
And she never second=guessed herself or considered staying in her comfort zone.
“You’ve got to believe in yourself because if you don’t believe in yourself, who’s going to?”
Angelina Nixon: We’re keeping the faith
Portsmouth are currently at the foot of the WSL2 table, most recently suffering a stinging 5-2 home defeat at the hands of local rivals Southampton.
But Nixon says that belief is the key to turning that around as well.
“We just have to keep that belief and seeing things that you can’t see and just believing in the future and believing that we’ve got the attacking threats.
“We just need to sort out the structure.
“For me, it’s just being together and getting around your team-mates and thinking about the reaction rather than what’s going on now and just lifting it up with love and care and the togetherness. That’s how we’re going to win games, if we stick together.”
And she doesn’t rule out a couple more sensational strikes this season.
“We’re keeping the faith and goals like that – anything can happen.
“When we shoot, we score!”
But she admits that it’s difficult to predict what she might do.
“I’m very unpredictable,” she confesses. “I always do the opposite of what they think I’m going to do, so then they don’t have a clue – so if they think I’m going to go right, I’ll go left. That’s my model.
“Being unpredictable is is probably what I’m best at!”
