Simon Parker was left bitterly frustrated with Blackburn Rovers Women's 4-0 defeat at Portsmouth despite securing their place in the Championship.
Results elsewhere meant that Rovers' heavy away defeat was inconsequential. With one game to spare, Blackburn have achieved their pre-season aim of avoiding relegation.
However, the manner of the defeat at Portsmouth, who leapfrogged Rovers with the win, left head coach Parker disappointed.
Rovers gave themselves a mountain to climb after falling 2-0 behind before half-time. Iva Casley’s lofted ball upfield was controlled by Meg Hornby on the right, who drove at the Rovers defence and crossed for Sophia Quirk to net.
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Hornby then added a second as she raced behind the backline to get herself on the scoresheet and put Portsmouth in control.
Things didn't improve after the interval. Quirk added a second as she got behind the defence and rounded goalkeeper Alex Brook to make it 3-0.
The fourth followed with 15 minutes remaining as Emma Thompson turned in a Quirk delivery to finish off a resounding win.
It left Parker feeling bitter-sweet despite Rovers confirming their place in the division for 2025/26.
“We were really, really poor today, in all aspects of the game, our shape wasn’t good, our energy levels and there were just so many areas where we could have been better, so it’s not been a good day," he said.
“The performance was really poor, the goals we conceded were pretty poor as well. It wasn’t the level that we wanted to play at so we will review it all and make sure that we do better.
“We’ve had a couple of games where we have been way below the standards that we set of ourselves, here and Newcastle as well, so we need to make sure that we do better.
“The positive is that safety is secured, but we can do better than this.”
