Chesterfield FC Women exited the FA Cup last weekend at the hands of a strong Rotherham United team, marking the end of their first ever FA Cup season.
Manager Andrea Parkinson gave her thoughts on the loss: “Really tough game, but we knew that from the start – with Rotherham being a league above.
“They scored literally within 40 seconds which set the tempo for the game really and then they scored the second within ten minutes. After that it kind of woke us up a little bit.
“Then they scored their third goal towards the end of the first half but that’s the level we want to play at, that’s what we want to aspire to.
“From an FA Cup point of view, we’re really disappointed to be out, but from a learning point of view, we’ve took so much away from it.”
Despite the loss, Andrea expressed her pride in the side as they’d competed in the competition for the first time in their history: “Winning in the first round qualifying was great for us, really. Getting to the second round, the draw could have been a little bit easier for us. But again, we’ll take so much from the game, put it into training and obviously take it into the games and the league going forward for this season.”
The women’s team return to the league this Sunday as they take on Buxton at Shirebrook.
“I did go and watch Buxton during pre-season, so I’ve got a couple of notes on how they’ll play and what formation they’ll play.
“But again, they’re new to the league like we are, and seeing them in pre-season like ourselves, we have players away and new players coming in, so I don’t know if I can take a great deal from going to watch them.”
Praising the support for the women so far this season, Andrea added: “We saw quite a few supporters at Rotherham wearing Chesterfield shirts, a couple of our under-9 girls’ players came and watched as well.
“The support is huge, and I’ve said it before – when players look around and see fans in Chesterfield shirts, they’re supporting it kind of urges them on and actually feels like people are taking interest.”
Get down and support the women this weekend as they take on Buxton on Sunday (2pm) at Shirebrook Academy.
