Derby County Women were 4-3 winners over Liverpool Feds in the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division on Sunday afternoon.
In their final fixture on home turf in the 2023/24 season, Sam Griffiths' side came out on top in a seven-goal thriller.
Forward Kira Rai had the Ewes in front at the break and they went on to steam into a 4-0 lead in the second half through goals from Emelia Wilson, Amy Sims and Dolcie O'Connor.
The visitors hit back to score three times to set up a tense finish through Beth Donoghue's hat-trick, but Derby held on to claim all three points.
The Ewes will round off their 2023/24 season with a trip to Burnley on Sunday 5th May (2pm kick-off).
“It Was A Rollercoaster Of A Performance” - Griffiths
Manager Sam Griffiths described her 90 minutes on the touchline as one filled with a rollercoaster of emotions.
Griffiths was delighted with some of the football her side produced as they stormed into a four-goal lead.
However, she was also disappointed with the way the Ewes went from being in total control to hanging on at the very end for all three points.
Despite that, she was happy to see the side end the home campaign with a victory at the Don Amott Arena.
She said: “It was a rollercoaster of a performance.
“There were some moments where we were brilliant, had great patterns of play and then two minutes later we went to some of the worst decisions and work-rate I’ve seen.
“It was the strangest game. To go from 4-0 up to winning 4-3 tells you just what type of 90 minutes it was.
“We know the girls have the quality in them so those moments where we were slick and smooth were pleasing to see, but we had some crazy moments as well.”
She added: “The most important thing was to get all three points in our final home game. Liverpool Feds are above us in the league and this wasn’t going to be an easy fixture.
“The first 70 minutes or so was great and credit to the girls for getting themselves 4-0 up, but I am just a little disappointed with the last 20 minutes.”
“Getting The Win Was The Most Important Thing” - Rai
Forward Kira Rai admitted signing off on home turf for the 2023/24 season was a big priority.
Rai got the ball rolling with Derby’s opener before half-time and she felt the side could, and probably should, have won by a much bigger margin.
Although she was pleased to get all three points on the board, Rai believes there’s still room for improvement as the Ewes look to lay the foundations for a positive 2024/25 campaign.
Rai said: “We had moments where we were good, and then some where we weren’t.
“The three points was the most important thing, but we will have to look back and see why we weren’t consistent for the full 90 minutes.
“To score four goals shows we did well going forward and we could, realistically, have won by a lot more.”
She added: “We know, as I said, we weren’t consistent for 90 minutes and to concede three goal was disappointing.”
