Belles manager says he was proud of his team despite the defeat to Huddersfield Town in the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Cup quarter-finals.
The Belles lost 1-0 in a close encounter at the Stafflex Arena, where they matched their higher-league opponents for virtually all of the game.
“I’m proud of every single individual player. I asked them to follow the game plan and they executed it to a ‘T’. We knew it would be difficult against a team from a higher division, but we’ve played well and on another day could have scored a couple of goals.
Butler set his team up to frustrate and disrupt the hosts whilst looking to attack on the break. The single goal of the game came on 75 minutes during the only real sustained period of pressure that the Belles had to endure.
“We could have done better with the goal, which was the only disappointing part of the game, but overall I’m really pleased and proud of the performance. We soaked up the pressure and you could see that Huddersfield were getting frustrated.
“I’m just so proud as a coach. I asked the players to do a job and they did. The players drive each other on and encourage each other - they deserve the credit.
Full match reaction on Donny Belles TV at https://youtu.be/WpfWU4DFUQ4