Derby Women’s 1st XI 2-4 Nottingham Trent Women’s 2nd XI: Hosts miss late penalty in derby day defeat

Words by Harry Tizard.

Derby Women’s first team succumbed to a 4-2 loss against rivals Nottingham Trent.

A penalty miss for the hosts with the score at 3-2 proved extremely costly as they went from the opportunity to snatch a point to coming away with zero.

Nottingham were resolute in the way they played and after taking the lead inside 20 minutes, they controlled the match and never forfeited their lead.

Emma Lee Hornsby opened the scoring for the visitors as she met Kirsty Matthew’s cross from the left-hand side and looped the finish over Jodie Hill’s head.

That lead was then doubled just five minutes later following Derby’s failure to clear a defensive corner. Katie Maya picked up the ball on the edge of the box, slalomed past two defenders and curled her shot into the bottom corner.

The home side bounced back almost instantly from the second goal as Evie Garner used the time and space she had inside the box to direct the ball into the roof of the net to half the deficit.

Nottingham were quick to restore their two-goal lead though as captain Jess Drage found the top corner brilliantly to leave Hill rooted to the spot between the posts. It gave their opponents a mountain to climb after the break which they began to tackle as soon as the second period started.

Maya, who had scored for the away side earlier on, was unable to clear a dangerous cross, resulting in her turning the ball past her own goalkeeper and into the net which shaped a nervy end to the match.

Those nerves were not helped as the game reached its conclusion with Derby being awarded the perfect opportunity to get the equaliser. Garner was fouled inside the area and chose to dust herself down and take the penalty herself but she was unable to keep the spot kick on target, blasting it wide of the mark.

Nottingham Trent made the hosts pay for that miss, wrapping up a vital away victory in the closing stages as Corinna Williams rounded the goalkeeper and scored after being played through on goal. It was a tough defeat to take for Derby against their local rivals but the home side will be desperate to bounce back next week.