Albion Women marked their first-ever game at The Hawthorns with a win on Sunday afternoon – beating Derby County 2-0 in front of 1,871 supporters.
Leigh Dugmore wrote her name into Baggies folklore by becoming the first female player to score at The Hawthorns in the famous old stadium’s 122-year history, the midfielder taking advantage of a mishap to side-foot home and spark wonderful scenes of celebration.
And substitute Evie Gallop’s strike midway through the second-half ensured the three FA Women’s National League North points would go to the hosts, and mark a special occasion with a fantastic result.
The Baggies’ staunch defensive efforts also played a crucial part in the story as goalkeeper Poppy Bastock and the Albion back-line stood firm to record a clean sheet against their promotion-chasing opponents.
The large, jubilant crowd helped create a fun family-fuelled atmosphere at The Hawthorns, much to the delight of Head Coach Jenny Sugarman – who thoroughly enjoyed the historic day.
“When you have a big occasion like this you always hope you’ll get the performance to go with it, and the team absolutely delivered that today,” she said.
“I’m so happy for them. It could have been very different, and we could have crumbled under the pressure, but instead we rose to it.
“I’m incredibly proud of everything that’s gone into today. Everybody behind the scenes put in a huge amount of time and effort to make sure this was a success.”
Next up for Albion Women is a match with Hull City at Coles Lane next Sunday (March 13, 2pm KO).
Albion: Bastock, Brown, Green (Crackle 70), Davies, George, Stamps, Loydon (Tudor 80), Greaves (Gallop 70), Walklett (Embley 61), Dugmore, Mahmood (Robinson 87).
Attendance: 1,871.