Wolves Women 6 (Davis 11, McQuilkin 25, Quick 31, J. Cross 56, 67, 90+2)
Solihull Ladies 1 (Dickinson 70)
A comfortable 6-1 win over Solihull Ladies, including a hat-trick for Jade Cross, secured second place in the table for Wolves Women at a sunny Hednesford Town.
Despite Wolves’ dominance of the game, it was Solihull who got the first chance from a corner in the fifth minute. Wolves’ keeper Gardner could only push the ball wide, and it fell to former Wolves player Layla Salter whose shot missed the target.
Wolves got straight back into the game though, and in the 11th minute Laura McQuilkin’s through ball found Jess Davis, who beat the offside trap, rounded the keeper, and shot into an empty net to put the home side ahead.
Wolves could have added a second in the 19th minute after Cross played the ball through to Amber Quick, but Quick lost her footing and her shot went over the bar.
Solihull then came close just a minute later, but Tanya Dickinson’s shot from the edge of the area missed the target.
Wolves doubled their lead in the 25th minute as Cross beat the defender and laid the ball off to McQuilkin who finished in the bottom corner of the net.
Wolves were now on a roll, and added a third in the 31st minute with two stunning passes – a fantastic long range ball out to the wing from Dominique Luke to find Andrea Whetton, whose cross was met by Quick and duly despatched.
Solihull had a chance to get back into the game in the 40th minute, after Vicky Brackenbury handled in the area, but the resulting penalty was fired over by Georgia Jones, and Wolves went into the break 3-0 up.
The home side continued to control the game in the second half, and in the 50th minute a stunning cross from Jen Anslow evaded the Solihull keeper, but Whetton could not react quickly enough to get a clean contact, and her shot went wide.
Wolves then added a fourth six minutes later as Quick played the ball through to Cross, who slotted past the keeper into the left-hand corner of the goal.
Cross got her second in the 67th minute, latching onto a through ball to beat the keeper and make it 5-0 to the home side.
Solihull got a consolation goal in the 70th minute, as Dickinson was quick to capitalise after a game of pinball in the Wolves box.
But Wolves weren’t finished yet, and in stoppage time substitute Jade Hewitt played in Cross, who dinked the ball over the keeper for her hat-trick, making the final score 6-1.
Manager Steve Cullis said: "We fully deserved the win today. We were the best team on the pitch, and the players had a really good appetite and desire, both in and out of possession.
"We pride ourselves on being a team which wants to keep clean sheets. We were annoyed to concede the goal, but it was well taken, and I think our back four today was exceptional.
"We have gone into every game confident, especially when we have played at home and played well previously, so for me the message is going to be, go with more of the same.
“Go and be really creative with the ball, enjoy having possession, work hard, and if we do that, hopefully we will get the right result."
* Wolves Women will be back in action again this Wednesday evening 5th October when they entertain Birmingham and West Midlands Ladies under floodlights at Hednesford Town FC with a 7:45pm kick off. Admission is £2; Concessions £1.
Team: Gardner, Hakeman (Lock), Anslow, Luke, Perks, Brackenbury, Whetton, Quick, J. Cross, McQuilkin (Hewitt), Davis (James) Sub: E. Cross
