The Blues very nearly caused their second cup upset in as many weeks when Sandiacre Town visited Grange Park in the first round of the County Cup, but a lucky break saw the local rivals through to the next round with a 1 nil win.
After claiming a Premier Division scalp by beating Friar Lane in the FA Cup last week the Blues were flying high and confident of doing the same to Sandiacre.
The visitors fielded an experienced side but the Blues weren’t intimidated and straight away took control of the game, attacking the Sandiacre goal.
Long Eaton’s bright start surprised Town and they became a little panicky at the back with balls being whipped in from Long Eaton. Lindsey Strange almost put the home side one up after connecting with a cross from the right but her header was stopped by the well-placed Sandiacre keeper.
However Sandiacre were not without their attacks and came close through their strikers who utilised their pace, however they could not find a way past in form keeper Cairo Hopewell.
Despite the Blues efforts it remained all square at half time.
The second half began with renewed determination from both sides and the tempo of the game increased.
However after the visitors put the Long Eaton defence under pressure a back pass went awry and the dangerous Sandiacre forward did not waste the opportunity and tucked the ball away from the tight angle to put the visitors one up.
The Blues were gutted as up till then they had looked like the most likely to score, however with 20 minutes still left to play there was plenty of time to get back into the game.
Straight from the restart the Blues again began their assault on the Sandiacre back four, forcing them into conceding free kicks as their defending again became desperate. The referee struggled to keep a lid on flaring tempers as the visitors unease was obvious.
As the half wore on Long Eaton pushed 3 strikers up front and came agonisingly close to equalising on many occasions, hitting the bar and keeping the Sandiacre keeper on her toes.
Unfortunately however it looked like it wasn’t to be Long Eaton’s day and as the final whistle blew it signalled the end to Long Eaton’s County Cup ambitions.
The ladies were disappointed to lose when they looked by far the better side but the girls will have to pick themselves up again ready for next weeks match where they face fellow league rivals Oadby and Wigston in the second qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup.
