Kelly Darby’s second-half header sent Wolves into the second round of the Women’s National League Cup, as Dan McNamara’s rotate side progressed past Brighouse Town.
The head coach made seven changes to the side which beat Derby County last time out, and the old gold enjoyed the same outcome, as Darby bagged the winner three minutes into the second-half.
Wolves controlled much of the opening stages, protecting the ball, but struggling to work attempts on the Brighouse goal. Despite that dominance of the ball, the occasional loose ball allowed the visitors to counter when given the opportunity, with Shan Turner being forced into two excellent saves.
The first save, from a Imogen Williams shot, saw Turner tip the ball over the bar with her fingertips and the second came from a low shot which she had to parry away from goal.
The biggest chance of the half for the old gold came when Summer Holmes tried her luck from distance, only to watch the ball fly narrowly wide of the post.
Youngster Amy Dicken also had a great chance to put Wolves ahead – Jade Cross and her blistering pace created a perfect cross meet the feet of Dicken, but before she could get the shot away, a Brighouse defender was there to make a block.
Half-time | Wolves 0-0 Brighouse
An energetic start from the girls in the second-half saw them rewarded for their efforts when an Anna Morphet corner met the head of centre-half Darby who nodded home, before being forced off with an injury, having fallen awkwardly when scoring.
Substitute Tammi George almost doubled the lead after it seemed Amber Hughes would work the ball beautifully into the box and have a shot herself, but instead fed George, who got her shot away but was frustrated as it glided wide.
Wolves’ goal certainly urged Brighouse to push higher up the pitch and search for an equaliser as they tried to gather momentum, but a solid team performance all-round meant there was no way through for the visiting side and Darby’s goal was the difference.
Full-time | Wolves 1-0 Brighouse
REACTION
On yesterday’s performance, head coach McNamara said: “Overall, I'm pleased. we set out with the aim of just getting into the next round of the cup and ultimately the girls have done that.
“They've kept a clean sheet which we're also really pleased with, and I think we changed a few things today. we know we were trying to run a little bit differently. The goal was outstanding, and I thought we were really good in the build-up phase and fantastic at creating opportunities we just lacked that final little bit quality to add more goals to the tally.
“Brighouse were always going have their little spell in the game and I think they did that in certain moments but overall I’m really pleased.”
On Turner’s performance
“Both goalkeepers are currently toe-to-toe trying to get that number one spot back again and both of them have been fantastic over the last few years for this football club, so you know when either of them come in you know what you’re going to get.
“I thought Shan made some great saves; her distribution was good. It's really promising that she got another clean sheet.”
On Darby's goal and injury
“Kelly Darby has had a tough start to the season. She's been absent for work reasons and finally she gets back into the groove. She’s been training well, and all of a sudden, she's had an injury.
“The header was fantastic, you know, a really good header, and that's what Kelly offers you from set pieces. I think it was more about her overall game today, I thought she really imposed herself well, on the game. She had an excellent 50 minutes before the injury, it's a bit too early for us to see what's going on, but hopefully it's nothing serious.”
On the importance of cup competitions
“We always say we want to progress as far as we can in all competitions, we want to win everything, but that's not always possible even if that's what we set out to do.
“I think the league cup has escaped us for quite a while, we've not even reached the semi-final over the recent years. It's something that we've talked about this year, we want to try and go far in the competition, and as I said, it's not always about the performance, it's just about getting into the next round, and I think the girls have done incredibly well today.”
On playing Brighouse next week
“We changed a few things today; we’ve rotated a couple of players and there’s some big players that aren’t here unfortunately due to illnesses etc. we know each other well myself and Rob. He will prepare his team how he thinks will have success next weekend and we’ll do exactly the same.
“It’s going to be at Telford, back at our home ground and there’ll probably be close to 500 people again, so we’re looking forward to that. It’s a new game and a new challenge and we fight for those three points next week.”
NEXT FIVE
- 06/11/22 Brighouse Town (H)
- 13/11/12 Shrewsbury Town (A) FA Cup first round
- 20/11/12 Chelmsley Colts (A) County Cup
- 18/12/22 AFC Fylde (A)
- 08/01/23 Liverpool Feds (H)
TEAMS
Wolves | Turner, Morphet, Price (E.Cross, 64), Elsmore, J.Cross, Hughes, Dicken (George, 64), Darby (Dermody, 47), Holmes, Miller (Bennett-Steele 64), Merrick (Tahoe 77).
Brighouse | Flaherty, Darcie Greene, Legge, Dean, Cass, Drew Greene, Kemp, Williams, Woodhouse, Harris, Clayton.
By Meg Garbutt
