Three lapses in concentration cost PNE's women dear on the opening day of the season, but there were still plenty of encouraging signs despite losing a five-goal thriller at home to Tranmere Rovers.
After falling behind early on, Laura Walker gave PNE hope with a first half leveller, but the Merseysiders restored their lead before the break and later extended it before substitute Mel Martin notched what proved to be a late consolation on an afternoon when defensive errors and a number of wasted chances proved to be their undoing at Irongate.
"Although the result wasn't what we wanted, the way that the team played was pleasing to see," explained boss Simon Gerrard.
"We dominated the game but unfortunately three lapses in concentration have cost us the game because Tranmere punished us for all three goals, and then there were a number of good chances that we had the misfortune to waste ourselves, including three well-created openings that were clear cut.
"I've watched the video back a couple of times now and you can see that we dominated from start to finish but just made mistakes at either end that cost us. The girls aren't too disheartened by it and I feel that we'll be ok if we carry on playing like we did on Sunday.
"It's probably just a little more disappointing because the result came off the back of two very good friendly results where we beat Stockport 6-0 the week before and then drew 3-3 with Everton in midweek.
"It meant that we went into the game with good form under our belt and feeling pleased with where we were, but ended up disappointed that we couldn't convert the chances we had on the opening day and seal another good result."
There are still 21 games to go in the season, and hopes of success in 2008/09 are high, even with plenty of challenges dawning on the horizon. Gerrard continued:
"We've got a hell of a tough test to come this weekend at Leicester, who have just been promoted and have a number of England international players in their squad. We'll be missing a couple of our players through injuries and holidays, but the girls are upbeat about the challenge so we just have to go there and see what happens.
"There are definite signs that there's a lot more to come from the team and we'll be looking to try and put things right over the next couple of weeks.
"We've finished fifth in the last two seasons, and last year we were definitely a little upset with that because we feel we can do better.
"I think this year we want to be pushing for a top three position, which is something we were capable of achieving last season, though whether we're quite ready to go up just yet is another thing because we'll need to find more firepower and a lot more in terms of resources - basically a large amount of money which we don't have.
"However, top three is something we've got to aim for, even though I feel this league will be even closer than it was last year. Looking at the quality of the teams that have come up and come down into this division, it's going to be a very tough competition."
Kick-off at Leicester this coming Sunday is at 2pm, with a League Cup tie at home to Newcastle (to be played at Irongate, 2pm kick-off) the following Sunday, 31st August, now added to the fixture list.
All photos courtesy of KIPAX.
