Jackson-Norris felt the fine margins went against Maidenhead in Sunday's Plate defeat

Maidenhead United Women’s team line up with mascots from the club’s u9s Girls and u12s Kites teams. Photo: Maidenhead United

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Sometimes the fine margins go against you in football, and Maidenhead United Women’s boss Ed Jackson-Norris certainly felt that was the case in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Cambridge United Women in the FA Women’s National League Plate.

Jackson-Norris had been hoping to guide his side into the final four of the national competition, after taking the Magpies further in a cup competition than any other senior side in the past 20 years.

But it was FA Women’s National League South East Division 1 side Cambridge who edged this tight encounter thanks to a second half penalty that was won, and converted by Stojko-Down.

Cambridge will now host Barnsley in the semi-finals of the Plate while Maidenhead – who do still remain in one cup competition – can focus on putting together a more consistent run of form in the league.

There was little to choose between the two sides at York Road on Sunday, but Maidenhead failed to capitalise on the chances which fell their way, while Cambridge took their one big opportunity from the penalty spot and held on for victory.

Speaking to Maidenhead United club secretary Neil Maskell after the final whistle, Jackson-Norris said: “It was fine margins. Performance wise, I was, generally, really pleased.

“In terms of our analysis, because we did some good work in the week identifying the areas, they were going to be a threat from and where they create a lot of chances from. And generally, I felt we nullified those areas well.

“Looking back, I don’t think they really created anything against us today, and that’s generally been the story of our season defensively.

“The girls have been very good at taking information on board and that’s to their credit. It is just a shame that the goals we’ve been conceding come off the back of our own individual errors.

“We seem to get punished every time we make those errors, which is frustrating. But again, the performance was really good. There were lots of really pleasing things.

“They changed their shape three times in the game, but it didn’t throw us off tactically, we adapted to every change really well and maintained control. All this stuff is positive and an indication that we’re going in the right direction, but sometimes, where we are at the minute, the outcome doesn’t reflect the performance level.”

Maidenhead’s recent 8-0 win over Selsey moved the side six points clear of the relegation zone in the FA Women’s National League South West Division 1, and they’ll hope to leapfrog eighth-placed Portishead when they travel to play them on Sunday (2pm kick-off).

The ninth-placed Magpies are a point behind Portishead with three games in hand, while they also have a game in hand over seventh-placed Bridgwater United who they’re due to host at York Road on February 11.

After that they visit mid-table Moneyfields the following Sunday and Jackson-Norris is looking forward to a more regular run of league games between now and the end of the season.

“We knew the second half of the season was going to be better anyway,” he said. “But it’s nice knowing that most weekends between now and the first week of May, we’ll have a game.

“With a couple of mid-week games in there and we’re still in another cup competition, so hopefully we can get into a bit of a rhythm. We know with the signs we’re showing, our performances are going to be on a par, if not better, than what we’ve shown today. We’re very confident that results will match that, and you’ll see a more evolved Maidenhead United in the second half of the season. We’re excited to see what it’s going to bring.”