Chesterfield Ladies reached the final of the Derbyshire Women’s County Cup for the first time in their history on Sunday afternoon after comfortably beating Draycott Victoria Ladies 3-0 at Shirebrook Academy.
A brace from Shannon Purdy plus a goal from Georgina Williams sealed the victory for Mike Noon’s side and booked their place in the final of the competition where they will meet Derby County Women U20.
The Blues started the game very brightly and came within a whisker of taking the lead after only two minutes when Millie Standen’s 15 yard effort smacked off the post.
The hosts only had to wait another six minutes before grabbing the lead. Shannon Purdy’s 20 yard shot was on target anyway but took a huge deflection off a Draycott defender to wrong-foot the goalkeeper and the ball found the back of the net.
With such a dominant start against a side that play two tiers below, you could be forgiven for thinking this was going to be the beginning of an enormous victory in the style of the team’s earlier victories over Hilton Harriers Ladies and Belper Town Ladies in this competition. Full credit though must be given to Draycott Victoria Ladies for responding well to the early setback to make the match a very competitive affair and an awkward contest for the Blues.
The hosts had a big opportunity to double their lead in the 25th minute but were foiled by some impressive goalkeeping from the opposition. Chesterfield’s top goal scorer Georgina Williams managed to find enough space inside the penalty area to shoot on target from 12 yards out but Draycott’s goalkeeper pulled off an excellent save to tip the ball onto the bar.
Five minutes afterwards, the Blues came extremely close again to finding a second goal when Millie Standen’s close range effort was superbly blocked by Draycott’s goalkeeper following a good pass into the penalty area from Gina Camfield on the right flank.
Chesterfield then hit the woodwork for the second time of the game after 37 minutes played. Shannon Purdy waltzed her way past a couple of opponents before firing an 18 yard effort that cannoned back off the post.

The second half carried on in much the same vein as the first 45 minutes. The hosts continued to dominate possession and apply pressure into the final third. With Chesterfield only leading by one goal though, manager Mike Noon will have been well aware of Draycott’s tactics of nicking a goal back from a quick counter-attack.
Chesterfield finally secured an all-important second goal of the match in the 53rd minute thanks once again to Shannon Purdy. Purdy’s low well-placed 20 yard effort beat the Draycott goalkeeper to find the bottom corner and secure her fourth goal of the season.
The two goal cushion appeared to improve the fluidity of Chesterfield’s passing and the hosts suddenly seemed to be attacking with a lot more pace than the first half.
Any hopes Draycott had of getting back into the game were extinguished just before the hour mark when Georgina Williams grabbed her 15th goal of the season. The in-form striker broke free of the opposition defence to latch onto a long ball played up top and she suddenly found herself with just the goalkeeper to beat. Williams did superbly to lob the ball over the oncoming keeper and into an empty net to make it 3-0 and put the Blues in a commanding position.
Chesterfield came very close to a fourth goal just six minutes later when an unmarked Gina Camfield headed over the bar from close range following an excellent right-wing cross from Emmi Cook. Cook herself came close to adding a fourth in the 70th minute when her powerful run on the right wing saw her advance into the penalty area. However, her effort was fired wide of the target.
With just under 15 minutes remaining, both Chloe Phillips and debutant Lucy Graham saw close range efforts flash over the bar from close range.
To Draycott’s credit, the visitors kept fighting to the very end and they created their best opportunity of the match with just 12 minutes to go when substitute goalkeeper Louise Apperley was forced into a good save at her near post to deny a consolation goal for Draycott.
The final whistle marked three victories in a row for Chesterfield Ladies and sets them up nicely for Tuesday night’s trip to Basford United Ladies in the second round of the East Midlands Women’s League Cup.
Chesterfield Ladies team: Watson, Cook, Warren, Jebb-Geer, Anderson, Pashley, Phillips, Standen (c), Camfield, Williams, Purdy.
Used substitutes: Fidler, Baker, Everley, Graham, Apperley.
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