Doncaster Belles: Zoey Shaw takes positives from derby defeat

The Belles led 1-0 at the break at the Keepmoat Stadium courtesy of a Jasmine Saxton strike before four goals in the second half from their South Yorkshire rivals saw them progress.

However, Shaw believes her squad is showing signs of progression.

“I felt the scoreline was harsh on our girls out there,” said Shaw.

“The 4-1 scoreline did not reflect the game we played and we were unfortunate with most of the goals that went against us.

“It was a big improvement on last week’s performance and there’s much to build on.

“We can take away so many positives from this one and use that in the league now.

“We worked well as a team, we were disciplined, we got plenty of shots off on goal and I just think with all of that the scoreline looks a little heavy.

“There wasn’t a massive gulf in class really, we didn’t look like we were a team in the league below,” she added.

“I felt we probably dominated the majority of the first half as well as most of the second half until the final few minutes as well.”

The Belles return to league action on Sunday when they travel to Solihull Moors in FAWNL Division One Midlands before a trip to Long Eaton United four days later.

Shaw reckons her side will have learned a lot from their experience against a team from the league above.

“Our main focus now is our trip to Solihull,” she said.

“We’ve had some fresh legs out there picking up minutes and many made a good impression so the squad will be in a good place ready for those two games in four days.

“The performance against Sheffield has really given myself, Dav Doone and the rest of the coaching staff a bit of food for thought.

“We need to be ready for those league games coming up and make sure that everyone is ready when called upon.

“It was massive for them to come to the Keepmoat Stadium and play,” she added.

“A lot of them will have watched the first team play there in the past. It’ll have been a dream for a lot of them to do that themselves and it’ll give them a great focus on what they can do in the future.”