The first game of the new year for the Cobblers Ladies who started brightly and were rewarded with a goal after 6 minutes with Stacey Chaplin slotting home from a Claudia Trotman corner.

The Cobblers were forced into a substitution after 10 minutes with central midfielder Cassie Whelan pulling a hamstring, it was evident with the next few minutes that she would be missed leaving Claudia as the only recognised central player.

A mix up on 15 minutes from Lily Hunt and Abi Leech lead to City's equaliser, but the Cobblers restored their lead on 20 minutess with good combination play move down the left with Lizzy Clarke and Claudia Trottman and the final finish supplied by Steph Gale.

The Cobblers should have gone further in front on 40 minutes but had a goal controversially disallowed for offside.

The second half was much like the first - this was a well contested game wityh good passing at times by both teams.

The Cobblers missed a chance to score again in the first minute of the restart with Naomi Dwayne shooting wide from a Abi through ball and City equalised 3 minutes later, and it was City who got the winner on 70 minutes after latching on to a poor clearance.

Overall the Cobblers played well against a good passing Coventry side and should have came away with all 3 points.

The players will learn from this - their average age is only 17 years and they are playing against seasoned professionals at times and this must be taken into consideration.

Team: Lily Hunt, Jordan Bateman, Stacey Chaplin (MOM), Jess Paver, Sammy Pebody, Lizzy Clarke, Cassie Whelen, Claudia Trotman, Steph Gale, Katie Martin, Naomi Dwayne, Abi Leech.