As Nottingham Forest saw their game away to Halifax fall victim to the weather over the weekend, focus for the women’s game was firmly on the FA Cup, although for Notts clubs, only Notts County made the hat for the draw of the First Round (by virtue of a postponement also).

County’s game at home to Loughborough Lightning was postponed and will be played at a later date, that meaning both sides went into the draw for the next round and will travel to Lincoln United on Sunday 12 November (Nottingham Forest have been drawn at home to Sheffield FC), however the remaining five clubs from the area all suffered defeat, two of which went out on penalties.

Both Basford United and Arnold Eagles fell to the dreaded lottery of spot-kicks, and both doing so on home some as well; the former was beaten 4-2 (following a 1-1 draw) against the visiting Wyberton Wildcats, and the latter losing 4-3 (also following a 1-1 draw) having entertained Beaumont Park.

It would be the hosts that would take the lead, midway through the first period, Maisie Plumb netting after 19 minutes to take an interval lead; with fifteen minutes to go however the tie was levelled thanks to an Annie Vayro effort.

The hosts could have won it late on as well, Laura Porritt seeing her 35-yarder crash against the visiting crossbar with six minutes remaining, the tie going instead to penalties; Porter would be seen to make a save in the shoot-out however, Plumb’s effort was saved, and Alana Crawford, agonisingly, hit the upright, with the visitors stepping up to take the win.

Basford United – Emma Porter, Devon Cousins, Keeley Sanderson, Maisie Plumb, Chloe Barkes, Zoe Meyrick, Alana Crawford, Anna Butcher, Georgia Gladwin, Kayleigh Downes, Laura Porritt

Arnold Eagles also exited on penalties, losing 4-3 when home to Beaumont Park following a 1-1 draw, Natasha Leach (tournament’s top scorer) levelling things up in the second half; Nottingham Trent University lost 3-1 when on the road at Chesterfield, SJR Worksop went down 3-0 at home to Lye Town for whom Natasha Baptiste scored twice, and Mansfield Town lost 4-0 when away to Doncaster Rovers Belles.

Action was also seen in the Nottinghamshire Girls & Ladies League with both Seniors 1, and League Cup games taking place.

In the league NTU Pink won 1-0 at home to Newark Town to leapfrog their opponents into first place, moving two ahead and with two games in hand whilst there’s a handful of sides beneath Newark also having games in hand (Arnold Eagles Flyers and Radcliffe Olympic specifically).

Of the League Cup games, Arnold Flyers were awarded a home walkover success against East Leake Robins Bantams, Bingham Town won 4-0 at home to Keyworth United, and Mansfield Town Development eased to a 14-0 success at Gedling Southbank – the visitors showing little mercy as Bethany Jones fired a seven-goal haul, Jessica Waplington a hat-trick, and two for Georgie Shaw.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @BasfordLadiesFC a 4-2 shootout loss saw Basford lose in the FA Cup to Wyberton.