Derby County Women secured their place in the Second Round of the 2023/24 Women’s FA Cup with an impressive 5-1 win at Lincoln City on Sunday afternoon.
Sam Griffiths’ side navigated their way past a tricky First Round tie against the Imps with skipper Amy Sims netting a hat-trick and forward Yasmin Mosby helping herself to a double in Lincolnshire.
Sims opened the scoring inside the opening 20 minutes to set the Ewes on their way before she added a second for herself and Derby on the stroke of half-time.
Mosby made it three immediately after the interval and despite seeing the hosts pull a goal back shortly afterwards, Sims went on to complete her hat-trick just after the hour mark to restore the side’s three-goal advantage.
Mosby rounded off the scoring with ten minutes remaining from the penalty spot to cap off another strong away day showing from the Ewes.
The Second Round of this season's FA Cup is due to take place at the end of this month, while Derby's next FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division clash is against Burnley at the Don Amott Arena on Sunday 3rd December (2pm kick-off) in what is set to be their last run-out of 2023.
“The Most Important Thing Was Getting Through” - Griffiths
Manager Sam Griffiths was pleased with the ‘gritty’ performance of her side to run out convincing winners against the Imps.
Griffiths was, first and foremost, happy to see Derby book their place in the Second Round of the competition - which was the priority ahead of kick-off above anything else.
She was encouraged with the way her side kept their patience in their quest to take control of the cup tie and, overall, was satisfied with the display in tricky conditions.
She said: “It was important we came here and got through to the next round and we’ve been clear to the girls that we want good cup runs. It was a gritty performance in a good-old FA Cup game.
“Performance wise, could we have been better? Yes. Did the pitch today help us? Not really. The most important thing was to get through and we got five goals along the way too.
“I thought collectively we did well. We had to be patient, we knew that. Lincoln were hard to break down and we didn’t want to get into the habit of starting to force balls and making errors.”
Griffiths was also pleased to see Amy Sims hit double figures for the season with her three-goal haul.
While her goals understandably capture the limelight, Griffiths says the Ewes’ skipper plays a key role on and off the pitch.
She said: “Simsy is massive for us. She gives us so much on the pitch and her goals are just a part of that.
“She’s played in a number of positions already this season and Becky May coming into the team in midfield has allowed us to play Simsy that bit higher up the pitch.
“I am pleased for her to get a few goals and get her tally up.”
“To Score Five As A Team And Get Three Myself Is Really Pleasing” - Sims
Hat-trick hero Amy Sims paid tribute to her team-mates after firing the Ewes to victory.
Sims, who was last season’s leading goalscorer, has continued to find the back of the net on a regular basis this time around and has ten to her name already.
Despite grabbing the headlines with her treble, she was keen to focus on the collective display of the side as they navigated their way through a tough-looking test against a side that ply their trade in the league below the Ewes.
“We had to be a bit patient as we knew Lincoln would make it difficult for us and once we got the first couple of goals, it was important to kick on from that,” Sims said.
“The third goal was important, we were aware of that, and we were pleased to get it straight after half-time. To score five, and get three myself, is pleasing.
“I wouldn’t have got the goals without the rest of the girls setting me up, so it was a big effort from everyone.”
She added: “We want to keep going in the cups this year. We’re in the Quarter Finals of the National League Plate and we would love to go further in the FA Cup too and test ourselves against bigger teams.
“Knock-out football is exciting and you want to go as far as you can.”
