West Bromwich Albion Women picked up a resounding victory in their first game at The Hawthorns, defeating Derby County Women 2-0 in the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division clash.
-
A historic day at The Hawthorns
For an occasion fuelled by excitement, 1,871 fans had packed into the Halford's Lane stand for their first-ever clash at the home of West Brom.
Used to playing in front of around 200 fans, it was unknown as to how the side would react to this increase in audience.
But Albion started brightly, their first foray into Hawthorns' action met by enthusiasm and applause from supporters.
After pouncing on a mistake from the Derby goalkeeper, Leigh Dugmore then wrote herself into Baggies folklore, sliding a shot into the bottom left corner to take the lead.
Greeted by a roar from the home fans, the forward then took herself over to that corner of the West Stand to then be flooded by her teammates.
A moment of Albion history meant they went 1-0 up against a side with double the points of themselves in the division.
After some outstanding saves from Poppy Bastock, the Baggies managed to hold onto their lead until the 71st minute when Eve Gallop picked out the bottom corner following a melee in the penalty area.
Once again, the Halford's Lane Stand erupted into celebration, the goal and the experience marked a sign of their progression in the women's game.
The scenes after the game were a perfect spectacle, with the whole squad conducting a huddle led by manager Jenny Sugarman before encouraging the whole squad to take photos with those who had kicked every ball with them on the day.
-
Words from the Director of Football
Speaking exclusively to The Baggies Podcast, Albion Women Director of Football Dave Lawrence was delighted with the way things had panned out:
Dave, a fantastic occasion, you must be delighted with the way things have gone?
"There's so much work that's gone into today, in terms of off the field stuff to ensure that everything's prepared, with ticketing, making sure players are prepared for the game and everything like that.
"I'm just delighted with the way it's gone when you put so much effort into something for it to come to fruition with a 2-0 win and everybody being so happy.
"I think everyone's excited and chomping at the bit to get more of what they've had today it's a really good result and couldn't have gone much better."
The performance was excellent, what was your assessment of the game itself?
"I needed to remember we had a game at two o'clock.
"We knew that Derby were going to be very organised, they move the ball well and the concern when you're playing on a pitch this size is that we might get overplayed and overpowered.
"But actually our organisation and shape without the ball was fantastic, we took the chances that we had even though Derby probably shaded it in terms of chances.
"The effort from the girls was outstanding, and I think what really helped was the squad, it was a real squad game today.
"We had subs ready to come on when legs were tiring but from everybody it's just been a huge effort."
The fans really packed out the crowd, how great was it to see so many in attendance?
"They were great, when we scored and you see people boinging in the crowd, it's the kind of thing you want to happen and that you dream about.
"It felt like a real West Bromwich Albion day today, not just for the ladies but for the club as a whole.
"The fact that we've backed it up with a performance was outstanding and hopefully it's the start of many occasions like this.
"Hopefully we can utilise this to say to people that we mean business, we're professional, we're organised with what we do and we should get opportunities like this."