Derby County Women were held to a 1-1 draw against Halifax FC Women in the FA Women's National League Northern
Premier Division on Sunday afternoon.
After a goalless first half at the Don Amott Arena, Derby took the lead just after half-time courtesy of a stunning strike from in-form midfielder Rebecca May.
It looked as if the Ewes were going to pick up their first home win of the 2023/24 season, and their fourth in a row in all competitions, but Olivia Wilson hit a 90th minute equaliser for the visitors.
The draw was Derby's first this season and the point leaves them sixth in the league table after playing nine matches.
Next up for the Ewes is a trip to Lincoln City in the First Round of the Women's FA Cup on Sunday 12th November (2pm kick-off).
“A Tough One To Take” - Griffiths
Manager Sam Griffiths pulled no punches when offering her honest assessment of the Ewes’ performance.
Griffiths was understandably disappointed with Derby’s performance and she made her feelings abundantly clear at the final whistle.
Despite having most of the possession and being in the driving seat for the majority of the second half, Griffiths felt too many wrong decisions on and off the ball contributed to Derby’s lacklusture display.
She said: “It was a poor game and our own standards were not good; I am disappointed with the group and it is a tough one to take.
“We had 75% of the match, a lot of possession, and probably too much time to make decisions and do what we wanted with the ball. We didn’t have too much to do in terms of defending, it was just a case of poor decisions and being slow and sluggish.
“We talk a lot about setting the standards and the intensity in the early stages; it was the worst first ten minutes we’ve had in a long time. We were a big tired, lazy or sluggish - whatever you want to call it.
“We weren’t good enough today and Halifax deserved a draw. They could have won it too later on. We’ll take the point but I’m not overly happy.”
She added: “We need to look as a group of staff as to how we put this right for next week. It is my job to pick the players back up again and this week is a new week.”
“It Feels Like A Loss” - Sims
Amy Sims admitted that there was a big feeling of disappointment that the Ewes couldn’t pick up all three points.
Derby’s captain felt the team weren’t at their free flowing best on a frustrating afternoon at the Don Amott Arena.
Although the point extended the Ewes’ unbeaten run to four matches in all competitions, Sims was understandably unhappy to only pick up a point.
Sims, last season’s leading goalscorer, said: “It probably feels like a loss, really, and we know that we can perform better.
“I don’t think we got into the flow of what we know we can do as a team. We need to reflect as individuals and as a team to find out why it didn’t happen for us.
“After we took the lead we had a couple of chances, but it just wasn’t working for us. Although it is a point, it feels like a loss.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s FA Cup First Round tie at Lincoln City, Sims added: “We’ve got the FA Cup next week at Lincoln and it is a competition that is well known. We have to go there and put right what we didn’t do in this game.”
