Ciaran Toner felt hosts Chester-le-Street Town got to grips with the conditions much the better as the Belles slipped to a surprise defeat at the strugglers.
Goals from Jenny Ashton and Rhiannon Gray saw relegation-threatened Chester-le-Street go ahead with Jasmine Saxton netting a late consolation for the Belles, who slipped to defeat for only the second time in Toner’s nine match tenure.
“It was a difficult game,” Toner said. “I think they managed the conditions a bit better than us and in the first half we couldn’t get going. I thought we did well to come in at 0-0.
“I always felt we had more gears to go in and towards the end we saw the spirit we’ve been working on, trying to build on the culture and the environment we have here.
“In the key moments, they did a lot of things better than we did. We lost a bit of our way with our decision making in key areas of the field.
“I said to the team at the end that not everything can go our way and we have to expect that. We just want to turn up and play as well as we can and as hard as we can for this club to push on.
“It’s just one of those days that hasn’t worked out for us. We dust ourselves off and we progress again next week.”
The Belles host promotion-chasing Barnsley at the Iqbal Poultry Stadium on March 3. Tickets are available now, priced at £4 for adults, £3 for 14 to 17-year-olds and £1 for those aged 13 and under. To purchase, click HERE.
Tickets are also now on sale for the trio of Belles matches to be played at the Eco-Power Stadium. For more information, click HERE.