Ladies captain predicts a bright future for Pelicans

Jane Proctor believes the future is bright for Pelicans ladies after cementing a fifth-place finish in the East Women’s Division 2 North West table.The ladies captain feels the building blocks are in place to mount a serious challenge for promotion next term.Rachel Drohan, Jess Walker and Brooke Harris all found the back of the net in a 5-3 loss at St Ives on Saturday, but the team had already done enough to secure their lofty finish in the table.Proctor said: “We have developed over the season, bringing some younger players into the team.”It gives us a great set-up for next season. I believe if we carry on as we are and improve our fitness we can fight for the title. “I told the players before the game to go out and enjoy it as we had nothing to lose.”We wanted to make them fight for second place after they lost the chance of winning the title the week before.” The ladies went into their final outing on the back of a 5-0 win over Long Sutton at Alive Lynnsport a week earlier.Emma Hotchin (2), Bianca Fraulo-Hilario, Harris and Drohan were all on the scoresheet as the Lincolnshire visitors were dispatched with ease. “I’m so proud of the girls,” said the ladies skipper as she reflected on a positive campaign.”It has been tough with a lot of changes after losing a few players at the start of the season. “We also brought in some valuable players and at times, against all of the odds, the girls never gave up to secure a win or a draw.”I’m so proud we’ve finished in the top five when at times that looked a long way off. “The girls never gave up when the going got tough and, sometimes scoring late with the last hit of the game.”It has also been a successful few months for goal machine Proctor on a personal level, finding the back of the net 27 times in a season to remember. “It was my best goal-scoring season in years,” she said.”Most of them were fantastic team goals with some great passing from the midfield.”