DONCASTER BELLES
Belles captain Kirsty Smith says the effort put in by Andy Butler and Nick Buxton since taking charge of the team is really appreciated by the players. A 3-1 success over Long Eaton United stretched their winning run in the league to three games, although that will be put to the test when runaway league leaders Wolves visit Rossington next weekend.
27
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work since Andy and Nick have come in to the club, they’ve given us a new perspective on things and it’s given the team a really positive boost, and that’s firing out confidence amongst us,” said Smith. “That’s starting to show in games now, too. We’re more relaxed, we’re more confident on the ball, and everyone is really starting to play to their strengths, we have good players here and the management are doing a great job in bringing that out in everyone.” Goals from Nadia Khan, Jasmine Saxton and Chloe Bethell saw the Belles pick up three points at Oxford Street in the FAWNL Division One Midlands. Smith, who got the assist for the important third goal, felt they handled the tricky conditions well. “I think we did really well from the get go, we went in with the mentality that we wanted to get the ball down and pass it about like we worked on in training and it’s starting to come together now,” she added. The conditions weren’t great but we dealt with it really well, we’ll have things against us with obstacles in the way, we handled things well, we kept our focus and did what we had to do to get three points. “We’re working hard as the weeks go on,
we’re putting into place what we want to get out of games, it’s fantastic for us and it gives us that confidence going forward once again and the goal is to maintain that.” Butler is enjoying his first foray into management, having previously coached within Rovers’ Academy. “We spoke to the players straight after the game and we appreciate that days like that are very long ones for them, with rushing back from jobs and schools, but the effort they put in has been brilliant,” he said. “The conditions were tough to play in, but you learn to win different games by different methods and they really dug in - they showed a lot of grit and determination to win the game. The girls
showed another side to themselves after conceding the goal, they didn’t let their heads drop and they managed the game really well, it was never going to be a spectacle because of the conditions but they ground it out. “We’ve said to the girls if you keep winning then it becomes a habit, that’s what we want to do, we’re all here to do things right. “We’ve got players in this team that are all knocking on the door after putting in some great performances and that makes it difficult for me and Nick, but that’s just what we want, we want players to come in and do that.” The Belles are back in action at Oxford Street, Rossington next Sunday when they host Wolves (KO 2pm).
