Wolves Women claim staggering victory

Wolves Women 15 Cross (7, 10, 40, 48), Walker (25), Doocey OG (28), Haynes (32, 77, 84), Keitley (56, 89) Palmer (62), Jones (69, 88), Widdal (85) Burton Albion Ladies 0

Wolves continued their run of good form in the Women’s National League Division 1 Midlands with a convincing 15-0 victory over Burton Ladies at the CKW Stadium.

Jade Cross was in the goals once against with four, Billie Haynes fired home three, whilst an own goal and additional efforts from Lowri Walker, Alice Keitley (two), Jamila Palmer (one) and Courtney Jones (two) completed the outstanding 15-goal scoreline.

Wolves took the lead in just seven minutes with a goal from Cross as she took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake before slipping the ball into goal. Then, just minutes later, the inform Cross doubled Wolves’ lead with a low shot into the bottom corner.

Walker soon added a third as she concluded a good run through the defence with a clinical finish from distance, shortly followed by the fourth goal as the opposition goalkeeper fumbled a cross into her own net.

Haynes was next to fire home with a thunderous shot as a result of a rebound from the keeper, then Cross’ influence on the game continued as she bagged a hat-trick before the break.

McNamara’s side continued their dominance in the second period from the whistle, with Cross claiming her fourth of the game early on, before being substituted off following her fantastic effort in the game.

Just seconds later, substitute Keitley managed to seal another goal for Wolves. A rattling of the woodwork from Palmer allowed the ball to fall to Keitley’s feet before touching the back of the net.

Palmer eventually saw her efforts rewarded as she claimed herself a goal to show the dominating nature of Wolves. Jones followed her influence too, as she put Wolves in double figures with a header from a corner.

The threatening play was relentless and when Haynes smelt blood, she stepped up and helped herself to a further two goals to secure herself the second hat-trick of the game.

Captain Widdal also added to the scoresheet with a low ball slotted into the bottom corner, closely followed by a second goal for Jones as her bullet of a header was converted into a goal.

The game was neatly sealed off by Keitley who netted the 15th of the afternoon just before the final whistle with a sneaky ball past the keeper.

The dominant victory saw Wolves Women remain top of Women’s National League Division 1 Midlands, with an impressive 36 points from 13 played.

REACTION

Wolves manager, Dan Mcnamara, was pleased with the performance of his side saying: “It was great and the girls are fantastic. They put the great desire that they’ve shown all season into the fixture and we were ruthless and played with great tempo.

“I was really good to see an array of goal scorers. It’s fantastic. It gives us confidence going to the games ahead. We’ve got eight or nine more cup finals to go, but the girls are really confident at the minute.”

Despite Wolves dominating every aspect of the game, McNamara still feels there is room for improvement: “On the pitch we were looking great, we moved the ball well, we were great in and around the box, we were clinical in certain areas of the field.

“Maybe improvement is needed on the 11 shots that went wide or were off target, but other than that I don’t think we were really tested out of position. Probably we need to be a bit more clinical, I know that sounds silly after scoring 15, but I think on a different day it could’ve been double.”

COMING UP

The team travel away as they face Leicester United next Sunday 9th February in WPL Division One, 2pm kick off.

NEXT FIVE

09/02 | Leicester United WFC (H)

16/02 | Birmingham & West Midlands Ladies (H)

19/02 | The New Saints LFC (H)

23/02 | Leafield Athletic LFC (H)

08/03| Doncaster Belles (A)

TEAMS

Wolves: Elbro, Bruton, E. Cross, Widdal ©, Jones, Jennings, Walker, Haynes, Bramford, J. Cross, Palmer.

Unused subs: Barnett, Keitley, Wilson, Anslow, Glover.

Burton: L. Doocey, Lane, Wiggins, Maitland, McQuilkin, E. Doocey, Sutton, Johnson, Browne, Warrington, Meeson.

Unused subs: Heggs, McCallion, Milsom, Farthing.

Report by Katy Wordley-Smith