West Brom 2 (Bennett-Steele 15, Mahmood 34) Wolves 3 (George 2, 7, Toussaint 70)
A superb long-distance strike by Destiney Toussaint in the second half proved to be the Black Country derby winner as Wolves Women advanced to the final of the Birmingham County Cup after beating West Bromwich Albion at Keys Park.
It was an incredibly fast-paced first half with Tammi George scoring a brace within the opening seven minutes. However, West Brom grew into the game and replied with two goals of their own from Lizzie Bennett-Steele and Mariam Mahmood.
The second period proved less eventful, that was until the 70th minute when Toussaint’s long-range effort secured the win and Wolves’ place in the final.
The old gold are looking to repeat last season’s heights and retain their Birmingham County Cup trophy and they were on the path to do so just two minutes into the game. After Toussaint dispossessed the West Brom back four deep in their own half, the Wolves winger set George up inside the penalty area where the number seven calmly slotted past Anna Miller in goal.
Just five minutes later and it was two for George and the visitors. The ball was worked intricately down the right wing before being swung dangerously into the area. George found space for herself and jumped the highest before powerfully targeting her header into the back of the net.
Climbing above the rest🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ejh35uH2sJ
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) March 26, 2023
Although George had put Dan McNamara’s side two goals up, West Brom were in no mood to lie down and a slight lack of concentration from goalkeeper Shan Turner gave the hosts the chance to pull one goal back. A sliced kick fell into the feet of former Wolves player Bennett-Steele who smashed it into an open net.
Wolves were determined to keep their lead as the first half started to come to an end, however Albion were adamant about fighting back. They were soon level as great link-up play down the left wing saw a number of Albion players combine before a low ball was drilled into the area. Mahmood was on the receiving end and saw her shot loop over Turner to level.
Half-time | West Brom 2-2 Wolves
A determined Wolves side returned to the pitch for the second half looking to forget about the score and show exactly what they are made of and that’s just what they did. Toussaint picked up the ball deep in the opposition half and with no support she looked to goal. She struck a beautifully placed long shot over the top of the West Brom keeper which arched into the right of the net, regaining the lead for her team.
Nothing beats a Black Country derby goal💪 pic.twitter.com/86GkqYajPB
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) March 26, 2023
Although Wolves were in the lead West Brom kept pushing for an equaliser which resulted in more sloppy challenges. A couple of injuries meant McNamara introduced Anna Price and Amy Dicken in place of Anna Morphet and Summer Holmes.
With the clock winding down, Wolves fought to keep their lead with pressure from the opposition, but some beautiful passages of play saw them keep out of danger and hold onto the lead whilst pushing to kill off the tie.
All attempts made by the hosts in the dying moments of the game were shut down by the strong back line Wolves had in front of their goal, safely keeping their 3-2 lead as the final whistle was blown.
Full-time l West Brom 2-3 Wolves
REACTION
McNamara believed his side were the weaker of the two despite progressing through to the final but was still full of praise for his players. He said: “We were pretty poor, I think we started brightly and then stopped doing the things that saw us have success in the first 15 minutes.
“It’s always easy to stand here and say we were poor, but I thought Albion gave us a really good go today. I thought they were outstanding and made it really difficult for us and it turned into a typical Black Country derby. There was intensity, tempo and a bit of nastiness in there but I’m just glad to get the win in the end.”
On heading into half-time level
“It was intense at half time, there was a little bit that happened as they were walking off the pitch so you can see what it means to the players, if anyone wonders what the Black Country derby means then look at the last 90 minutes. Tempers were shown and it was a difficult half-time - probably the toughest one of my five years here so I challenged the girls to just go and win and I thought we did that in the second half. We always come up with some kind of quality and we did that again in the second half. We have players on the pitch that can come up with something special and Destiney did that for us today.
“Special mention to Anna [Price] I thought she was fantastic she pretty much won us the game with that header towards the end from their corner in the 96th minute so outstanding from her.”
On heading to the final
“I’m delighted to be in the final but that will be parked now for a month or so and we have some big games coming up like at the Molineux next weekend. We have to see who’s injured and what injuries will impact our preparations as we picked up quite a few today. We just need to rest, recuperate and recover and hopefully we will be fine for the month we have ahead of the final.”
NEXT FIVE
02/04 Huddersfield Town (H)
09/04 Liverpool Feds (H)
16/04 Derby County (H)
23/04 Burnley (A)
30/04 Brighouse Town (A)
TEAMS
West Brom | Miller, George, Loydon, Green (Timms 71), Embley, Bennett-Steele, Stamps, Davies, Evans, Mahmood, Newell.
Subs not used | Jenkins, Walklett, Tudor.
Wolves | Turner, Cooper, Morphet (Miller 75), E. Cross, George (Dicken 75), J. Cross (Hare 83), Dermody, Holmes (Price 78), Toussaint, Roberts, Merrick.
Report by Charlotte Copperwheat
