Chesterfield Ladies fell to a surprising 3-2 home defeat to Basford United Ladies on Sunday afternoon in the East Midlands Women’s Premier Division at the Chesterfield Panthers Rugby Club ground.
Teenage striker Sophie Marshall bagged a brace over the course of the game but it wasn’t enough to prevent their winless run stretching to four games.
This was the club’s first match since the announcement that manager Mike Noon will be stepping down at the end of this season.
It was a nightmare start to the game for the Blues as they fell behind after only two minutes played. An in-swinging corner kick from the visitors caused problems inside the penalty area and Summer Reece was easily able to head home from close range to give Basford a very early lead.
Gina Camfield saw her effort fired wide of the post in the 12th minute following a free-kick while Hannah Baker’s rocket of a shot from just inside the penalty area was well held by the Basford goalkeeper five minutes later.
A scrappy first half ensued with both teams struggling to maintain possession. However, with five minutes remaining before the interval, Basford pounced on a defensive error to double their advantage and make it 2-0. A lapse in concentration allowed Basford to quickly counter and swarm in on goal. A simple low cross from the right of the penalty area found a completely free Danni Sanderson and she rolled the ball home from just a few yards out to put Basford firmly in control of the game.
The Blues recovered well though from the huge setback and managed to halve the deficit with just a couple of minutes left of the first half. The impressive Sophie Marshall was rewarded for her unfailing work rate when her strike from inside the penalty area found the bottom corner to make it 2-1 and secure her second goal of the season for the senior team.
Manager Mike Noon made a change to the formation at half-time in order to try and secure an impressive comeback. Left-back Steph Warren was replaced by centre-half Millie Jebb-Geer as Chesterfield Ladies switched to just three at the back.
The hosts managed to get back onto level terms on the hour mark when Marshall found the back of the net once again for her second of the afternoon. A mix-up between Basford’s goalkeeper and a defender allowed Marshall to capitalise and she was able to stroke the ball home easily from close range to make it 2-2 and set up a grandstand finish.
It looked as if Chesterfield Ladies were going to cap off a superb comeback when they immediately applied pressure on the Basford defence in search of a third goal. Gina Camfield came close to grabbing a third for the hosts when her 12 yard effort was palmed away by the goalkeeper in the 65th minute.
It was Basford though that stunned the home crowd yet again just three minutes afterwards when they reclaimed the lead. Another corner-kick proved to be Chesterfield’s downfall as an excellent delivery wasn’t cleared away properly by the Blues defence and this resulted in Maisie Plumb firing an effort into the bottom corner to make it 3-2 to the visitors.
There was a large break in play with around ten minutes remaining of the match as Basford player Kristina Ponder went down in agony with a serious looking injury before being stretchered off the pitch.
Once the game re-started, the Blues created two big opportunities to claim a dramatic late equaliser but it was not to be Chesterfield’s day. Both Marshall and Jebb-Geer saw efforts from inside the penalty area agonisingly steered over the bar inside the final five minutes of the contest.
The final whistle marked Basford’s first win in ten games and a fourth successive match without a victory for the Blues. Attention though will now shift quickly to Chesterfield’s first ever appearance in the Derbyshire Women’s County Cup final which takes place on Sunday 16th April. The Blues will compete against Derby County Women U20 at the home of Long Eaton United with kick-off at 3pm.
Chesterfield Ladies team: Apperley, Cook, Warren (Jebb-Geer 46), Anderson, Abercrombie, Standen, Fidler, Purdy (Pascoe 35), Baker, Marshall, Camfield.
Unused subs: Ratcliffe, Falleth, Phillips.
Mike Noon Quotes:
“Obviously, we’re a bit disappointed. Basford are a decent side but I thought for large parts, we were the better team. We kept the ball well. We created good opportunities. We just couldn’t put the game to bed. We gave away sloppy goals and they’ve come away with all the points.”
“Sophie Marshall is class. We’re really fortunate to have her. Her movement and her touch was really good. She scored two really good goals. We’ve got a lot of good players and a lot of talent on the pitch. Unfortunately, things just haven’t gelled for us in the last few games. It’s four games now without a win which is a tough one to take.”
“We’ve done brilliantly to reach the final of the County Cup. We’ve never reached the final of the Derbyshire Women’s County Cup before. It’s an occasion that we’ll really look forward to. With the form we’re in, we’ll probably go into the game as underdogs. We’re going to give the final our best shot. If we can come away from the game with the trophy, then that would be absolutely fantastic.”
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