DEBUTANT Megan Ralph has spoken of her pride after making her debut for Coventry City Ladies during the 6-2 victory over Derby County Ladies in the Women’s Premier League Northern Division.
Ralph has progressed through the club’s academy ranks in recent years and her journey to the first team was complete on Sunday when she came on as a second half substitute.
“I am really proud on a personal level to have made my first team debut today.” said Ralph. “I wasn’t expecting to get on in all fairness, but it’s something I’ve worked hard to achieve for a long period of time.
“In regards to the game itself I thought the team battled well and performed to a high level.
“The second half was particularly good as we knocked the ball around well and created numerous chances in front of goal. We fully deserved the win, we’ve just got to keep it going now.”
Goals from Helen Dermody, Destiney Toussaint and Ashleigh Neville cancelled out a Melissa Johnson effort to put Craig Nicholls’ side 3-1 in front at the break at the Bedworth Oval on Sunday.
Dermody scored a second and further goals from Annabel Johnson and Amber Hughes put the result beyond doubt, with Precious Hamilton scoring a consolation for the visitors.
The win moves the Sky Blues level on points with league leaders Sheffield FC Ladies with six games of the season remaining.
And manager Nicholls was delighted to see his side bounce back to winning ways.
He added: “It was a much better all round performance on Sunday.
“We had some excellent attacking options and every time we went forward we looked likely to score, we probably should of had a few more goals.
“It was good to give a debut to Emma Hollingsworth at centre back and I thought she performed very strongly considering a lack of playing time prior to us signing her.
“We just need to keep our heads down now and get on with our jobs to ensure we get three points every week.”