Injury-hit Mansfield Town Ladies do the club proud in County Cup final defeat by Nottingham Forest

It was still only 4-1 on 69 minutes and three of the Reds' goals even came after the 90-minute mark as injury-hit Mansfield tired.

“I am proud as punch of the girls and the scoreline certainly does not reflect the game,” said Woodfield.

“We conceded four or five goals in the last 15 minutes of the game, having given everything we'd got.

“Our captain, Amy Dawson, had to come off at half-time with concussion, which didn't help.

STAGS v FOREST cup final in pictures

“We also lost Gabby Foukles with a calf problem and then with 10 minutes to go and all the changes made, our keeper, Bethany Jones, has gone down with an injury and had to stay out there.

“The injuries made it even harder than it needed to be.

“What we are pleased with is that, at 3-1, we rattled them.

“We were getting at them and that is not something they are used to, certainly not from a team from a lower league.

“When we got the goal back we made it really tough for Forest and they were really concerned.

“We even had a goal disallowed for a foul on the keeper, which was never a foul, which would have brought it it 3-2.

“In the end Forest's quality showed through in the last 15 minutes which showed the step in level we need to make.”

He added: “It has been a trying season in terms of injuries and we've not had the luck at critical moments.

“But the girls were absolutely outstanding, Andi (manager Bell), the staff, all the supporters – there were 400 people there and most of them were Stags fans.

“It was an absolutely fantastic event put on by Nottinghamshire FA and we were proud to be there and represent the club.

“We gave it our all and the players put their bodies on the line, which is all we could have asked, and they did it for the badge.”

It was only the second time the Stags had reached the final but they found themselves up against a lethal Forest side that had to work very hard before they were able to highlight the two leagues difference between the clubs.

There were hat-tricks for Gianna Mitchell and Charlotte Greengrass and strikes from Hayley James, Charlotte Steggles, Amy West and George Hewitt.

Mansfield held out for 21 minutes before going behind and were 3-0 down by the break.

They pulled one back through top scorer and player of the season Ellie Marshall on 56 minutes to give some hope, but in the end it turned out to be a consolation as the game ran away from them.

Stags also missed out on the league title recently after a tough run-in ended their hopes.

But they can still end their impressive campaign with silverware as they contest the EMPL Plate final against Rotherham United on 22nd May.