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As soon as the ball left Marie Hobinger's left boot, Liverpool manager Matt Beard knew it was a goal.

"We see Marie do that every day in training," Beard said, after Hobinger's strike helped the Reds topple Aston Villa at Prenton Park earlier this month. "The minute it fell to her, me and (assistant manager) Amber Whiteley were sat there together and we said ‘that’s a goal’."

There was, perhaps, a similar sense of conviction on the Liverpool bench when the ball fell to Hobinger on the edge of the area on Sunday afternoon. It was goalless at the Chigwell Construction Stadium and the Reds had spent 52 minutes trying to wear down a stubborn West Ham defence.

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They had hit the bar twice, first through Ceri Holland and then Gemma Bonner, and it looked very much like it could be 'one of those days' for Beard's side. Step forward Hobinger, who drove a sweet right-footed strike into the bottom corner to give Liverpool the lead.

The Austrian international was three minutes away from seeing her goal yield a hard-earned three points for the visitors. That was until Hammers striker Riko Ueki capitalised on some shoddy defending to bundle home an equaliser in the 95th minute.

It was a cruel blow for the Reds who, not for the first time since their WSL return, were left to rue a catalogue of missed chances and settle for a point. But the manager, while frustrated, reserved plenty of praise for his goal-scorer after the game.

"Marie is a fantastic player, can play off both feet," Beard told liverpoolfc.com. "Technically, she has got a great strike on her – we saw it against Aston