Northampton Town Women joint-managers Josh Oldfield and Liam Williams believe there are lots of positives to take from their side’s 4-3 win away to Needham Market in their third pre-season friendly on Sunday afternoon.
Ruby Heselden, Jade Bell, Mia Richards and Fay Noble scored the Cobblers’ goals as they defeated their opponents, who finished third in the Eastern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division in the 2022-23 season.
“It was a tough game, which we expected it to be because Needham Market are a very good Tier Five side,” Williams said.
“They’re aggressive and really hard to break down, so it was a really good test for us.
“We won the game but they never made it easy for us, and we had to work really hard for it.
“We can take a lot of positives from that.”
The Cobblers came from behind twice to earn their one-goal victory, having also turned the scoreline around to win against Cambridge United at Sixfields Stadium the previous week.
“It was the same story last week when we went behind and reacted really well, but today we had to do it twice,” Oldfield added.
“We’re not so pleased that we’ve found ourselves in positions that we have to recover from, and we’d much rather start quickly and on the front foot because leading and managing the game is something we’re really good at.
“There are lessons to learn from that point of view, and things for us to work on.”
Oldfield and Williams’ side host Ashford Town (Middlesex) in their fourth pre-season friendly next week. Their opponents finished sixth in the FA Women’s National League Division One South East last season.