Borrowash Victoria 3-1 Pride Park
Above: Pride Park midfielder Bleu Lewis-Wilson challenged by Borrowash Victoria’s Tebble. Photo: Shaun Hardwick.
By Doug Outt (2/6/22).
The curtain fell on Pride Park’s 2021/22 season in the tier seven Derbyshire Ladies League Divison One with an away match at Borrowash Victoria, which was ultimately won by the hosts. With runners-up trophies waiting for the team at full time it was already a successful season regardless of the result.
The home side were boosted with a much bigger bench than usual and were in search of a draw or a win to see them leapfrog Sandiacre Town into third place in the league. They started the brightest, opening the scoring within a minute as Nat Eley latched onto an under-hit back pass and made no mistake after rounding Jade Howell.
After that rude wake-up call, the match evened out, with Vics enjoying the lions’ share of possession but not creating many chances. The two best sights of goal were for Pride Park, with Summer Evans seeing a shot blocked at the last moment, and Maja Znamirowska finding the back of the net with a tidy finish, but was called offside – a very tight decision.
It was Borrowash that found the net next though, as a long ball from midfield went straight over the backline and was volleyed home from inside the box by Eley for her second.
It had been a disappointing scoreline at half-time as although Pride Park kept Borrowash at bay, the goals that were conceded were sloppy and life hadn’t been made difficult enough for the home side when they were on the ball.
The second half started much brighter, and within five minutes Pride had pulled a goal back. Evans did well to hassle a midfielder and win back possession high up the pitch and lay the ball off to Znamirowska on the right-hand side. She returned the pass and Evans swept the ball home for her 15th goal of the season.
Much like the first half, there were not too many chances for either side, although Borrowash were able to make it 3-1 with 15 minutes to go, Scott – on as a substitute – coolly finishing a one-on-one opportunity.
With nothing to play for in the league, there was an opportunity to experiment a little with players in different positions.
Ultimately it was not the result Pride wanted to round off the season, but everyone involved should be proud of their efforts throughout the year, having secured the highest league finish since 2017/18.
impetusfootball.org 