Women's report | Wem 0-6 Wolves

Wem Town 0 Wolves 6 (Price 2, Miller 4, Walker 45, Cross 62, 65, 76)

Wolves Women hit Wem Town for six after a second-half Jade Cross hat-trick helped secure five wins from five and maintain their 100 per cent record.

Wolves instantly announced themselves into proceedings in Shropshire, as a header from Anna Price and a long-range strike from Alisha Miller saw Dan McNamara's side surge into a 2-0 lead within the opening five minutes.

Miller almost grabbed her second and Wolves’ third just shy of the 10 minute mark, as her left-footed strike flashed over the bar at the near post.

Despite the quick-fire goals and dominance from Wolves early on, the game had calmed down with 20 minutes on the clock, but Cross was still having a lot of joy on the right-hand side.

The home side had their first effort on goal after the half hour mark, as Caitlyn Smith directed a free-kick towards goal, but her effort flew over the bar.

Then, Wolves made it three on the stroke of half-time. Lowri Walker picked the ball up on the left-flank, travelled forward and arrowed a low effort into the far corner.

Despite conceding just before the break, which would have knocked a lot of confidence out of Wem, the home side saw a lot of the ball in the early stages of the second-half.

However, Cross finally got her name on the scoresheet 15 minutes into the second period – the number nine firing into the top corner with her right foot.

Moments later, Cross was at it again, adding to her tally. This time she beat the offside trap to find a clear attempt on goal, and made no mistake in finding the back of the net.

Cross then completed her hat-trick from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining. Her spot-kick came with slight fortune after the Wem goalkeeper got a hand to the effort, but the ball eventually trickled behind the line.

The success saw Wolves make it five wins from five in the league and next up is a Vitality Women’s FA Cup tie with Sutton Coldfield.

REACTION

Daniel McNamara was delighted after the win over Wem Town on Sunday afternoon. He said: “I was really pleased with the girls out there today.

“I thought we limited them a lot, they only really had one effort on goal during the whole game. It's three points, and it's another game ticked off."

Despite scoring six goals, the head coach was most pleased with the defensive duties his side showed throughout.

"We hardly gave them anything throughout, this was the really pleasing thing. We are limiting teams to hardly anything. It is a testament to the girls, we have now kept four clean sheets from five, it is really pleasing."

Of course, Cross scored three on the day, and her manager had endless praise for the forward.

"People were concerned about Jade because she didn't score in the first few. I knew that it would come. She has now scored seven in two – she has come to life. She has scored 30 goals for the club for about five seasons and we are seeing why."

On the topic of the hat-trick hero, Cross was also delighted with the resounding win.

She said: "I thought we were first to everything out there, it was an all-round brilliant performance. Scoring them early goals was important – it kills the game for the other team."

Once questioned on her brilliant individual performance, a humble Cross said: "It is always good to get on the scoresheet, scoring three was good for the team.

COMING UP

Attention turns to the Vitality Women's FA Cup next weekend and Wolves travel to Sutton Coldfield, hoping to progress to the next round. 

NEXT FIVE

18/10 Sutton Coldfield (A) FA Cup

25/10 | Lincoln City (A)

8/11 | Long Eaton (H)

22/11 | Boldmere SMW (A)

29/11 | Doncaster Rovers Belles (A)

TEAM

Wolves | Thomas, Widdal, Cross, Morphet, Price, Glover, Walker, Evans, Cross, George, Miller.

Subs | Palmer, Edwards, Chase, Rogers, Renken.

Report by Jake Leach