Northampton Town Women joint-managers Josh Oldfield and Liam Williams have challenged their players to learn from their 3-2 defeat at home to Hull City in the FA Women’s National League Plate second round on Sunday.
The Cobblers were two goals up at half-time thanks to Kim Farrow’s penalty and Beth Artemiou’s lob, but their FAWNL Division One North opponents turned the tie on its head after the break to progress to the quarter-finals.
Williams was disappointed with his team’s second half performance.
“I thought we were excellent in the first half, but it was a game of two halves for us,” he said.
“Ultimately it’s disappointing because we lost from a commanding position.
“We felt pretty good about ourselves at half-time because we had defended well and there had been a good aggression and intensity about us.
“That wasn’t there in the second half for a number of reasons, and that’s something we have to address moving forwards.
“The girls are aware that their standards need to be more consistent.
“It’s a disappointing one but we’ve got to learn from it and move on quickly.”
Oldfield and Williams’ side return to FAWNL Division One Midlands action away to bottom-of-the-table Long Eaton United next week, two months after their last league fixture.
The former believes his squad are capable of responding positively to the cup defeat at the weekend.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve played a league game, and we’re looking forward to earning points and moving up the table,” he added.
“I’m certain we’ll come away with positive results if we put in performances out-of-possession like we did last week (against Wolverhampton Wanderers) and in the first half today.
“We’ve got a lot to learn from the second half today and a lot of hard work to do this week, but I’ve got no doubt in the girls’ desire, commitment and effort.”