Notts County Ladies boss Rick Passmoor insists his side have laid the foundations for their season after they held Arsenal to a draw in their first game in FA WSL 1.
Jess Clarke put Notts County ahead in the 27th minute of a first half which the hosts dominated.
However, Arsenal were a different proposition after the break and they levelled thanks to a sumptuous Alex Scott volley in the 53rd minute.
Notts County 1-1 Arsenal
FA WSL 1
Wednesday 16 April
Meadow Lane
by Liz Byrnes
Shelley Kerr’s side then twice hit the woodwork late on through Kelly Smith and Danielle Carter but they had to settle for a point in the end, much to Passmoor’s delight.
The County boss said: "It was a game of two halves, we started so, so well. We played to the team pattern, the plan we wanted.
"If at the beginning of the week someone had turned round to me and said: Arsenal, 1,500 people you’ll get a point I’d have accepted it.
"The city of Nottingham and Notts County will be very pleased and proud of what they have seen out there today because they can see it is an elite female game, the athleticism, the skill, and the heart.
"We had hearts of lions today in the second half and it is part of the game. You can’t go and win pretty every time."
For Kerr it was a case of what might have been after her side, third in last year’s table, left themselves too much to do after a sluggish start.
She said: "I was depressed in the first half and in the second half I thought we should have won the game.
"We had enough chances to win it, hitting the bar, they probably should have had a player sent off.
"We had a player through clear on goal and it’s a goal, it’s going in.
"It’s so disappointing not to win the three points but in saying that in the first half we were lucky it wasn’t more because that gives you a mountain to climb.
"The girls spoke about it themselves at half time and we said we needed to show the talent that is in that room on the pitch and not just talk about it and I thought we did that.
"We had more energy, we had more passion, we had more determination but the biggest thing was I thought you could see the talent we have within that squad."
Notts County (4-4-2): Telford; Walton (Green 10, O’Neill, 78), Bradley, Corsie, Turner; Susi, Hoyle, Scott, Holtham; Clarke, Sweetman-Kirk (Friend, 75).
Substitutes not used: Draycott, Clarke, Roberts, Haywood.
Arsenal (4-1-4-1): Byrne; Scott, Stoney, Williamson, Mitchell (Hoogendijk, 74); Kinga; Ono, Murray (Ayisi, 51), Smith, Yankey; Carter.
Substitutes not used: Chamberlain, Weir, Bailey, Bragg.
Attendance: 1,583
