Norwich City ended their Women’s National League South East Division One season with a 2-1 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.
The Canaries, who had already secured their survival the week before with a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, fell behind after a poor first half showing but then got back on level terms through a wonder volley from Natasha Snelling.
The team ended up conceding late on to lose the game but full-back and captain for the day Anna Larkins, said that the players were pleased with their performance overall.
“It was always going to be a difficult game,” she said. “We knew from the start that we were playing against a very good team, who had beaten us previously in the season. We had a gameplan going into it and first half and I think we admitted that we got it a bit wrong.
“We had to deal with quite a bit of pressure as a defence and managed to keep the score to 1-0; even though there could have been a few more chances that could have gone QPR's way.
“In the second half we came out, regrouped and worked a lot better as a team and we were unfortunate to concede in the last few minutes having got a goal back just after half-time. It was disappointing. I think we should have got something out of the game, but we were quite happy with our performance, in the end, against a strong team.”
Anna picked up the assist for Natasha Snelling’s goal, but she admitted the work was all her teammate’s as she produced a superb finish.
“It is probably one of the best goals that I have seen for a very long time,” she said. “I took the corner and hit it towards the back post and she has hit it first time on a side volley, just inside the area, and it has gone straight across the goal and into the top corner. It was a brilliant goal to see.”
Norwich ended the season two points clear of the drop and considering where the team stood at the halfway stage of the campaign it is a remarkable turnaround. Anna added that they now need to push on and make sure they do not find themselves in a similar position next season.
“It has been a long season and a really difficult one,” she added. “Just after Christmas we were in a really difficult position and most of us were starting to wonder whether we were going to be able to come back from some quite heavy defeats."