Stockport County Ladies have announced a successful end to the season in a recent statement:

"A long run of league away matches came to an end on Sunday with our final FA Women's National League match of the 2022/23 season, a comparatively short trip over to Birkenhead to play bottom of the table, Merseyrail FC. A win to finish the season would secure our fourth place in the table - if results elsewhere went according to form."

Manager Steve O'Hara tells how the game unfolded:

"So, the final league game of 2022/23 season! It was never going to be straight forward as we knew the uneven grass pitch would be a real leveller for our style of play.

"A few regular players were missing through injury or illness, so the bench was mostly made up of Reserves players making the step up to First Team football.

"We started ok, and although dominating possession, we just weren't our usual energetic selves. We had a great chance to open the scoring when Maria was through on goal, but the 'keeper did well to save her shot.

"Unfortunately, Merseyrail lost a player through injury, and had no subs available, so they were down to ten players for the rest of the game. This seemed to galvanise them and prompted a spirited display for the rest of the half, culminating in them taking the lead from a free kick on the edge of the box right on halftime, much to my annoyance and frustration.

"For only the second time this season there was a choice word or two at the break! We needed to be more aggressive without the ball and had been far too passive all over the pitch.

"Within ten minutes of the re-start we were 2-1 up, both goals coming from Player of the Match, Maria Figueiredo, a far better showing from the girls.

The team celebrate Maria Figueiredo's hatrick (Image from Stockport County Ladies)

"Maz completed her hat trick in the space of fifteen minutes, and we could start to ring the changes.

"There was a debut for Reserve Team captain, Ellie Richardson, who came on and showed real quality with her passing in midfield, and from then on the game was never in doubt. Em Bradshaw rounding off the win with a drilled effort from the edge of the box.

"Results from elsewhere on the day meant that we could now finish no lower than fourth place this season, which I have to say I'm absolutely delighted with. Reaching a tally of 37 points is also a club record at this level of football.

"We have shown massive progress on the pitch, but it makes it all the better seeing the league table, finishing 2 places higher than last season, and now we are really looking upwards.

"A massive shoutout goes to all the fans who came to the game, who along with the drummer, made a fantastic noise and atmosphere throughout the match.

"Next week we now look forward to the Cheshire Cup final against Tranmere Rovers, a game that we're hungry to win to cap off a wonderful first full season in charge"

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stockport Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our town.