TNS Ladies took on their first and ambitious friendly against higher league Manchester City, losing 5-1.
Our girls never got out of the starting blocks and were soon a goal down before a defensive lapse led to a second goal minutes later.
In contrast to Manchester’s direct approach, our girls looked disorganized and were playing well below par.
Another mistake made it three, before a great striker’s goal on 20 mins seemed to have put the game out of sight after only 20 minutes.
A fifth goal underlined a lack-lustre performance before the interval, but strong words words from management duo Steve Whitfield and John Parry at half-time resulted in a better second-half performance.
Abby Francis was pushed up from defence into attack for the last 10 minutes and it was the determination and desire which led to her scoring the consolation goal.
Not much in the way of positives to take from this game, but if we want to play at the next level we need to learn from this type of contest.