Relegation confirmed for ladies after defeat

There were mixed emotions for King’s Lynn Town Ladies manager Alec Marshall after his side’s relegation from the East Women’s Premier Division was confirmed at the weekend.The Linnets suffered a 6-1 defeat at Bowers and Pitsea and next season they will play in Division One North.Lynn were short on numbers for the trip, due to injuries and availability.There was a debut for assistant manager April Kitchen, who was named on the teamsheet for her first appearance in six years.A win for Lynn would keep survival chances alive, but anything less would see them mathematically stay in the relegation zone. The game started and within 90 seconds, Lynn found themselves 1-0 down, not a start they had planned for at all.Lynn had to dig deep to try and keep a foot in the game, but the home side showed their ability when they scored again after 14 minutes. Visiting Lynn battled in and dug in but went into the interval two goals down.Lynn came out a different side after the break and scored the next goal in proceedings with a quick counter-attack, finished off by Cobb. Momentum then swung in the ladies’ favour, but a few decent chances couldn’t find the net.They dominated for 10 minutes but Bowers broke their defensive line to make it 3-1. The Essex side scored further three goals in the final 10 minutes to see the game off, with Lynn fatigued late on in the game.Manager Marshall said: “I’m absolutely gutted about today’s result and what it means for us, but on the other hand I’m so proud of this group. “We were in a position in September where we nearly pulled the plug because of the circumstances, but that would have been the easy thing to do.”Week-on-week, we’ve fielded 11 players, no matter the distance, time or personnel, we’ve had 11, and for me in itself, that’s a victory. “We’ve been written off for a while from the background noise and I can safely say that myself, the staff and players, have given this team every possible chance and opportunity of staying in this division. “The tides have been high at times, but week-on-week, we’ve rode the waves.”The ladies are upset and it’s a sombre feeling, as you can imagine but they can hold their heads high, and we can look to these last four games to see out the season.”It was a special moment for April today. She’s been through a lot over the years, from being told she had to stop playing football to stepping back out there after six years today. It was a proud moment for everyone.”Player-of-the-match: Katie Ward.