Posh Women manager Dan Lawlor reflects on FA Cup victory and was full of praise for Pim on her debut.
Dan Lawlor was pleased to progress into the second round of the Women’s FA Cup following a tough afternoon at Trafford Park, securing a 2-1 victory over Wroxham Women after 120 minutes.
Following a stalemate in the 90 minutes, the game broke into life in extra-time as Keir Perkins netted the opener - scoring in her fourth consecutive game - before Frankie Pim doubled the lead for Posh and on her debut for the first team, the hosts pulled a goal back but Posh managed to see out the victory at Trafford Park.
Making it five victories on the bounce in all competitions, Lawlor acknowledged the performance wasn’t to the standards compared in the last few games, but praised his side for grinding out a win in extra-time.
“I’m delighted to have progressed into the next round of the competition, but I wasn’t overall pleased with the performance. It wasn’t the standard they have set and we have seen over the last few weeks, but these types of performances can happen, especially in the FA Cup,” Lawlor said after the game.
“We played into their hands in the first half. We had a conversation at the break, they came out in the second half and I thought for the last 15 minutes, we gave it a really good go.
“We hit the bar, the post and saw a shot cleared off the line, it looked like it was just going to be one of those days where it just wouldn’t happen. However, in extra-time, they found a way and that’s all I can ask for, to grind out a win when it's not pretty and they certainly did that.
“To get that goal so early into extra-time pegged them back and knocked the stuffing out of them, but they got a goal back pretty quickly after our second due to a goalkeeping error, but these things happen and they dealt with it well in the end. Although Wroxham made it very tough for us all game, they never looked like scoring and didn’t threaten our goal at all, but just made it hard for us and did it very well.”
Following some impressive performances for the under 23s in the opening months of the season, Pim was named in the matchday squad for the first-ever time and couldn’t have written a better story on her debut, coming on to score the winning goal and booked Posh Women’s place in the second round of the Women’s FA Cup.
“I thought Frankie [Pim] made a big impact. I think for someone so young she showed composure, she was calm, held the ball well and pressed. The goal has come from her own desire to win the ball back and massive credit needs to be given to her as I didn’t think she looked out of place at all,” Lawlor added.
“She impacted the game in a positive way and that’s why I opted for her instead of Renai [Bennett] and I know Renai is going to be disappointed, but I knew Frankie needed a bit of time to get into the game and that’s why we went for her first. I’m really pleased for her, she has a brilliant attitude and her hard work is paying off and she deserved this opportunity and she fully took it.