Derby Women’s 2nd XI 2-5 Leicester Women’s 2nd XI: Home side lose out in seven-goal thriller
Words by Jack Shannon
Picture by Sam Ward
Goals from Meg Stainer and Katie Bailey were not enough to inspire a Derby Women’s 2nd XI win as Leicester Women’s 2nd XI secured a 5-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the home side who drew first blood within two minutes as Stainer’s powerful effort left the Leicester goalkeeper stunned to put her side in the lead.
Their East Midlands rivals responded enthusiastically as a number of shots were saved by Elena Garcia-Verduso, however she couldn’t keep out Tomala Dee’s penalty which levelled the score.
It was Leicester who went in front 10 minutes later as Amelia Ward stabbed home from close range from a corner. Catherine De Billot tucked away a rebound on the stroke of half time to secure a two-goal cushion for the away side as the teams went into the second half.
Derby had a golden opportunity to start a fightback two minutes into the second half after Poppy Bradley was brought down in the box, but her subsequent penalty was kept out by a fine save.
They were punished for that miss as Jade Smith put the game out of reach for the hosts by extending Leicester’s lead to three goals which was followed by Dee grabbing her second of the game two minutes later to make it 5-1.
A glimmer of hope was granted when Katie Bailey converted a rebound with 15 minutes left to play, but Derby’s valiant late efforts amounted to nothing as they found themselves on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller.
The manager of the losing side, Tremaine Freeman, was admittedly disappointed with the defeat, although he praised the team’s progression as their inaugural season has advanced. He said: “[This season] we have bonded, definitely. We’ve come together as a team and our results have reflected that as well.
“They [Derby] are very social off the pitch, but sometimes we can go quiet on the pitch. That’s something we’re working on in training but nevertheless we’ve come together.
“It would have been a very different game if we would have scored that penalty, because we would have been right back in the game. I think we would have went on to dominate, like we did in the second half.”
Derby Women’s 2nds continue their league campaign on the 27th February as they host another Leicester-based side in De Montfort Women’s 2nd XI.
