COUNTY CUP FINAL GLORY FOR CHESTERFIELD LADIES

Chesterfield Ladies won the Derbyshire Women’s County Cup for the first time in their history on Sunday afternoon following a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Derby County Women U20 at Grange Park.

A pulsating and gripping affair between the two sides ended 1-1 after 90 minutes to set up a nail biting finale in front of a crowd of 434 at the home of Long Eaton United.

Derby County Women U20 got off to the perfect start when they took the lead after only two minutes to immediately put Chesterfield Ladies on the back foot. Isabel Sheridan’s superb 20 yard strike found the top corner and gave Derby a big early advantage to the delight of their fans.

It almost went from bad to worse in the eighth minute for the Blues when Derby were prevented from doubling their advantage thanks to an excellent Nic Watson save. With just the goalkeeper to beat, it looked like Iesha Rollins was about to put Derby 2-0 up following a quick counter-attack; however, Watson rushed off her goal line to close down Rollins’s angles and make an absolutely vital block to keep Chesterfield Ladies in contention.

After a slow and nervy opening ten minutes, Mike Noon’s side soon began to grow into the game and started to pose some threats of their own. The Blues were duly rewarded for their response to the early setback when they found an equaliser midway through the first half. A low cross into the penalty area found Millie Standen in the right place at the right time and she poked the ball home past the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner to make it 1-1 and secure her ninth goal of the season in all competitions.

The second half provided no goals but certainly entertained the crowd with some huge chances for a winner from both sides.

Derby came very close to regaining the lead in the 57th minute when a close range strike from Holly Otter was thwarted by Kel Fidler who made an outstanding block just in front of the goal line to keep the score level at 1-1.

Chesterfield Ladies certainly had the better of the second half overall though and had three huge opportunities to take the lead and grab the winner.

Two of those chances came within 90 seconds of each other. In the 65th minute, a right-wing delivery found an unmarked Hannah Baker inside the penalty area. However, her close range effort was straight at the Derby goalkeeper. Very shortly afterwards, Georgina Williams beat her marker for pace and soon found herself with just the goalkeeper to beat. Her effort though agonisingly rolled just wide of the post.

With penalties looming, the Blues almost snatched a dramatic stoppage time winner. In the second minute of added on time, Derby goalkeeper Lola Smith made a poor clearance from the edge of her own penalty area. The ball landed at the feet of teenage Chesterfield substitute Sophie Marshall. In a heart-stopping moment, Marshall instantly attempted to lob the ball over Smith and into the back of an empty net from 25 yards out. Once again, the ball was steered just wide of the post in a moment of pure drama.

The tension was sky high when the referee blew the whistle for full time and a dreaded penalty shoot-out conclusion was announced over the tannoy.

Just like the start of the whole match itself, Chesterfield Ladies found themselves on the back foot very early on. Derby converted their first penalty before Amy Pashley saw her spot-kick saved by Smith. The academy side confidently scored their second penalty too while Eleanor Abercrombie’s excellent spot-kick kept the Blues in contention.

The momentum of the shoot-out suddenly took a huge swing from this point onwards. Derby’s third penalty was saved by Nic Watson before Millie Standen held her nerve to bring Chesterfield level at 2-2 in the shoot-out. Derby’s Laura Monk saw her spot-kick cannon off the bar while Kel Fidler handled the immense pressure superbly to put Chesterfield 3-2 in front. County skipper Rosie Hunt knew she had to score to keep Derby’s cup dream alive but her effort was dragged wide of the post which sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the Chesterfield Ladies players, staff and fans.

An exhausted but ecstatic Chesterfield Ladies squad lifted the Derbyshire Women’s County Cup triumphantly in front of huge cheers from the crowd who created a fantastic atmosphere all afternoon.

The victory marked the club’s first piece of silverware since their rebrand and return to their roots 12 months ago and also clinched Mike Noon’s final trophy as the manager of Chesterfield Ladies over the course of a very successful five year tenure at the club which will come to a close at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Chesterfield Ladies team: Watson, Cook (Pascoe 85), Warren (Marshall 56), Anderson, Abercrombie, Pashley, Fidler, Standen, Williams, Camfield, Baker (Jebb-Geer 72).

Unused subs: Frances-Creaser, Purdy.

Attendance: 434