Belles head coach Zoey Shaw felt a slow start gave them a mountain to climb in their final pre-season friendly before the start of the regular season.
The Belles trailed 3-0 after 47 minutes to Ossett United, with goals from Abby Watkinson and Jasmine Saxton giving them a glimmer of hope, but ultimately it wasn’t to be and Shaw believes the application should’ve been better.
“We started really slowly, and it wasn’t really the performance that I’d have expected here, we had a few changes and had two very different sides in each half, that may have had an impact,” she said.
“On the whole, it wasn’t good enough, we didn’t really apply ourselves from the off and didn’t do too much of what we’d worked on in training, we didn’t start well at all and you can’t afford to do that.
“We need to have that desire to not just go and win the ball or go and win the game, but work for each other, the first goal came because we had five players that didn’t track back and you can’t afford to do that.”
Shaw’s side begin the regular season at home to Leafield Athletic next Sunday in the FAWNL Division One Midlands, and the head coach is keen for her side to come back refreshed ready for next weekend.
“It’s shown here that if you start how we did then you’ll get punished for it, hopefully the girls will come away from this game here and come back with a better mindset when we come back to train on Tuesday,” Shaw added.
“We need to take time just to go away and make our own reflections on what we’ve learnt, a big learning curve for us is when you change players in and around their natural position it can affect the game.
“It’s a tough one to put your finger on something, you need to have that hunger and desire from the second that whistle blows, it’s important to get that embedded in them.”
Belles season tickets are still available for just £20 via the Club Doncaster Box Office - purchase now by either visiting in-store at the Keepmoat Stadium, by calling on 01302 762576, or online at tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk.