Derbyshire football team one step closer to Wembley after late FA Cup winner

Seventeen-year-old Miriam Hawley has only been playing football competitively for two years after being inspired to join a club following the success of the 2018 Women’s World Cup, but the young striker is already making a name for herself.

On Sunday, 20 September, her goal was the difference as Dronfield Town Ladies beat Cleethorpes Town 2-1 in the FA Cup Preliminary round.

Miriam, who has scored nine goals in seven pre-season matches, said: “It was amazing and a great feeling – breathtaking. I was really nervous but when it went in I was really happy.

"A big shout-out to the rest of the team, we’re definitely hoping to get through.”

The official Vitality Women’s FA Cup Twitter account posted a video of Miriam’s goal, which has been viewed almost 2,000 times online. Her parents, Rob and Rosie, and younger brother Reuben, 14, also made the trip to Lincolnshire to cheer her on.

Miriam, a professional cookery student at Chesterfield College, said: “I have always loved playing football but I never knew about any girls teams. I watched the World Cup and thought ‘Wow, this is great. Now’s the time to join a team’.

"It’s been really good. It took me a while to get used to it but I haven’t looked back. I would love to become a professional footballer, it’s definitely a passion of mine.”

Her coach at Dronfield Town Ladies, Dom Anderson, said: “Miriam’s a player we’re hoping to promote to the first team. We have got fantastic players, of which she’s one of.

"She’s been fantastic, she’s been scoring all pre-season and got a hat-trick last weekend.”

Miriam played for the club’s second team in her first season before making the step up this summer.

Dom, who makes a 90-mile round-trip from Derby to coach the first team, added: "The ladies deserve a manager who’s going to show them commitment.”

Next up on the road to Wembley for Dom, Miriam and the rest of the team is a trip to Staffordshire to take on Tamworth FC Women.