League cup exit

15th October 2018

Wolves Women’s run in the FA Women’s National League Cup came to an end as they were beaten 4-1 by Sunderland Ladies in the Second Round.

Wolves Women 1 (Criddle 71)

Sunderland Ladies 4 (Hutchinson 5, Young 28, Widdal 55 OG, Cross 64 OG)

Report by Elliott Jackson, photograph by Mark Birchill

First-half goals from Emily Hutchinson and Anna Young put the away side in control at the break, before own goals from Natalie Widdal and Emma Cross sealed the win after the interval. Wolves pulled a goal back through substitute Charlotte Criddle to reduce the arrears, but it proved too little too late.

Despite a strong start from Wolves, Sunderland took the lead with their first attack after five minutes. Jordan Atkinson burst down the right wing, and her cross picked out Hutchinson who couldn’t miss from a few yards out.

The hosts came back strongly following that early blow but failed to make their possession count in the way of clear-cut chances.

They then paid the price as Sunderland grabbed their second, 20 minutes after their first. Nice build up around the area saw the ball fed to Young and she fired in at the near post to double the visitors’ advantage.

Ten minutes into the second half, Sunderland all but sealed their win with a third goal. Atkinson fizzed in another fantastic cross from the right, that was inadvertently turned in by Wolves’ captain Widdal for an own goal.

Wolves again were creators of their own downfall, with another own goal, nine minutes later. This time it was Hutchinson’s cross that cruelly deflected off Cross and diverted the ball past the goalkeeper.

The hosts pulled a deserved goal back with 19 minutes remaining as Criddle rose highest to head home from a corner.

However, that proved to be the last action of the game with Wolves unable to mount a comeback.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

It was a tough afternoon for Wolves, which got off to the worst possible start. Despite looking bright in the opening exchanges, they conceded after just five minutes which set the tone for the afternoon.

QUOTES

Despite the 4-1 scoreline, Wolves manager Dan McNamara was pleased with his side’s effort.

He said: “I thought we gave them too much respect in the first half and by the time we started to play we were a couple of goals behind. Then we started to grow into the game.

“We’ve got to take the positives from it. It shows the level to the young girls and that’s the quality and levels we strive to be at.

“It was 4-1, I’ve seen bigger score lines from them throughout this season so we can’t be too disheartened by that. They (Sunderland) are a fantastic outfit and they’ve got some great players.”

COMING UP

Wolves take on Bedworth away from home, looking to extend their winning run in the league. They then take a trip to Kidderminster Harriers in the SSE Women’s FA Cup, a week later.

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