Nuneaton Borough 0-5 Beaumont Park

Ladies defeated in home debut...

Nuneaton Borough ladies hosted Beaumont park ladies in their first preseason friendly on Sunday.

Beaumont finished 2018-19 season undefeated winning their league and league cup so this was always going to be a difficult test for the newly formed Boro' ladies.
Boro' started strongly and on the front foot, pressing high and pushing Beaumont back into their own half. For the first 10-15 minutes Boro' looked comfortable and in control. However, a long ball over the top and deep into the Boro' half saw Beaumont race forward. Nerves from the Boro' keeper meant she retreated back towards goal, rather than coming forward and clearing the danger. The Beaumont striker's pace saw her sprint clear of the home team's defence and, once one-on-one with the 'keeper, slot the ball calmly into the back of the net. The goal seemed to take the wind out the Boro' sails sadly and confidence dropped. The ladies continued to battle but the more Beaumont pressed the more nervy Boro' looked and more simple errors were made. Too many errors lead to more Beaumont chances being created and as half time approached Boro' found themselves 3-0 down.

The second half started with Boro' showing better composure and the game looking more even than the last 25 minutes of the first half. Whilst the mistakes were now less frequent sadly there were still too many being made, one of which gave possession to Beaumont in Boro's own penalty area and resulted in the fourth goal of the game. Boro', however, did look stronger in the second half and continued to improve as the game went on and slowly but surely they were learning from their mistakes.

Passes were strung together more fluently and the overall play improved with each passing minute. Beaumont continued to show their quality with some impressive passing and created a few good chances for themselves and managed to bag a fifth goal after some slick passing and a good finish. The Boro' ladies continued to battle throughout and never gave up. Whilst the scoreline wasn't what was wanted and every player involved felt the disappointment as a result, there were some positives to take away from a tough 90 mins. The ladies will take the negative points back to the training ground and work hard on improving as individuals and, more importantly, as a squad.