The Pride played the first of four league games to finish the season at Borrowash Victoria yesterday, only two weeks since Pride Park exited the Challenge Cup in a 3-0 semi-final defeat at the hands of Vics. Vics, with 3 games to play before this game, were 7 points behind leaders Draycott Victoria, who have completed their fixtures.

After heavy overnight rain the pitch was considerably softer than a couple of weeks ago, although still likely to cause difficulty for players in controlling the ball. Two late withdrawals through illness left the Pride with one substitute and forced a last minute reshuffle.

Pride Park made a solid start, looking defensively solid but not at the expense of attacking threat and, although there weren’t any clear cut chances, they were keeping the Vics defenders on their toes both in - and out of - possession.

Pride were restricting Vics mainly to shots from range but the home side looked a threat from corners. From one of these a point blank header in the centre of goal was caught with the minimum of fuss by Jade Howell, whose excellent positioning meant she was right in line, reacting well to catch the ball cleanly at head height.

That save was put into perspective shortly afterwards, when Pride were awarded a free kick on the right after 28 minutes, after Hannah Roberts was impeded. Tash Allderidge’s free kick was cleared but only as far as Aimee Healy-Raynor, who from about 25 yards, unleashed a worldie of a first time shot which flew like a missile in to the top corner - still rising as it hit the net - leaving Vics’ goalkeeper with no chance [0-1].

Pride’s players were working like Trojans to deny Vics’ players’ time and space, and to harry them as much as possible in possession and, as a strategy, it was working as Pride saw it through to halftime with the one goal lead.

The second half continued in much the same vein, with Vics probing and trying to work shooting chances, but largely restricted to shots from distance - apart from one excellent ball across the penalty area that eluded everybody. Pride’s players were working extremely hard to defend from the front and keep Vics occupied at the back, so there were several ‘rotations’ of the front players to give them breathers, and to help maintain the phenomenal workrate.

The defenders and midfielders were also covering the ground, putting in challenges and covering for each other, and it was testament to each of them that, whilst they could no doubt have also done with a breather, they were doing what had been asked of them to the letter and could not be spared.

As the game was drawing to a conclusion there was a puzzling award of a free kick to Vics just outside The Pride’s area, but Jade Howell removed the danger by coming out to claim the ball.

As the third of three minutes of time added on was running down, a ball into the box resulted in a melee, the ball “squirted” out, spinning upwards - nobody knew where it was exactly - and it unfortunately bounced off a defender’s head and rolled just over the line to give Vics an equaliser right at the death.

It was hard on The Pride who had put in everything to the game, and were twenty seconds away from a remarkable win (that would have ended Vics’ hopes of the league title).

It would have been just reward for a phenomenal workrate, playing with determination, intelligence and discipline and showing considerable resilience against the league’s highest scoring team (averaging 6 goals per game). This was only the second time that Vics have been kept down to a solitary goal this season, and that was in a draw with leaders Draycott - and only the third time they have dropped any points.

The initial feeling of the players at the final whistle will probably have been of disappointment, but rather than feel deflated the players can take great pride from one of if not their best performances of the season.

Every single one of the players involved put in a shift and executed the plan exceptionally well - despite being asked to do something very different to what they are familiar with and, in some cases, out of position. In the circumstances, it would be impossible to single any one player out so this week the POTM Award recognised a real team performance in every sense.

There is now a two week break before The Pride travel to Stapenhill on Sunday 6th April (1.30pm).