Rover Oxford Ladies came away from their first National League match pointless after a 3-0 defeat at Bedford - but with a number of lessons learnt.
They quickly learnt that it's not possible to gift sides at this level two soft goals and expect to emerge victorious.
And particularly galling for Rover was that the two goals were given away in the first half when they had the better of the overall play.
The first goal, by Penfound in the sixth minute, came from a weak pass from Liz McVey which led to Liz Say being faced with three Bedford players coming at her and giving her no real chance of stopping them.
Despite that early setback, Rover stuck to their task and earned four penalty corners before Bedford gained their first one in the 23rd minute.
However, five minutes later a mistake from Laura Smith let Penfound in again for Bedford's second goal.
With the confidence that a two-goal margin brings, Bedford came out very strongly in the second half and dominated proceedings.
Some excellent defending from Rover kept them at bay until the 28th minute when Siers scored from a penalty corner.
Even then, Rover fought back, but their most promising move was cut short by the umpire who stopped the game so that he could award a green card to a Bedford player for a foul.
Although this was not the start they had hoped for, Rover showed tremendous spirit which should hold them in good stead for future matches.
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