Wolves 2 (Morphet 6, Bedeau 33) Liverpool Feds 1 (Cole 46)
Wolves Women grinded out another important win in front of 426 fans at the New Bucks Head on Easter Sunday.
A dominant first half display saw Anna Morphet get off the mark early on and Naomi Bedeau open her account for the club, but there was no clean sheet for Shan Turner, as Wolves conceded straight from kick-off in the second 45.
A sharp start was rewarded in the sixth minute for the old gold. A Beth Merrick corner came floating into the box and after a scramble involving multiple players and a toe from Destiney Toussaint who attempted to get the ball over the line, the ball was fumbled into the back of the net by Morphet at the back post to give Dan McNamara’s the early lead.
Emma Cross fancied her chances from outside the box as she struck the ball cleanly towards goal. Liverpool Feds goalkeeper Rachel Darbyshire was forced to tip the ball over the crossbar to deny the defender a golden opportunity to double the advantage.
Wolves continued to play on the front foot throughout the first 45, with a lot of balls being played over the visitors’ defence, but the positioning of Darbyshire was enough to deny any effort from a lofted ball over her back-line, much to Wolves’ frustration who couldn’t quite get the connections they wanted from those balls.
It looked like a second Wolves goal when Merrick received the ball outside the box and struck with confidence, a move seen week in week out with sensational results, but the ball unfortunately hit the underside of the bar and no gold shirt was there for the rebound.
It was a dream first start for youngster Bedeau who doubled the lead shortly after the half hour mark. Toussaint laid the ball out to the defender following a goal-mouth scramble, who hit the ball powerfully into the roof of the net to open her account for the club.
The visitors upped the tempo as half-time loomed, testing Turner in between the sticks, but their efforts couldn’t find the back of the net and Wolves went into the break two goals to the good.
Half-time | Wolves 2-0 Liverpool Feds
The start of the second half was one to forget for Wolves as they conceded straight from kick-off. Paige Cole scored for the visitors to help them find a way back into the game; a goal that changed the dynamic for the rest of the afternoon.
However, Toussaint almost got her name on the scoresheet, capitalising on some poor defending from Liverpool feds, but her effort glided past the front of goal, with no one around the goal area to retrieve the ball and go again at goal.
The team from Merseyside were unlucky not to get an equaliser, when Thomas struck an effort towards goal that came back to her from Turner and she tried her luck again, but her second attempt went wide.
The game continued with both sides trying to get a foot-hold in the game, with plenty of time left on the clock for more goals, but Wolves didn’t look the same fiery side seen in the first half and they set out more to defend the higher line of Liverpool Feds rather than trying to increase the gap in the score-line.
Wolves still had chances that they could’ve capitalised on towards the end of the game, but the efforts weren’t enough to trouble Darbyshire and the home side were able to see the 90 minutes out for another important three points.
Full-time | Wolves 2-1 Liverpool Feds
REACTION
Despite it not being the best performance by Wolves and McNamara’s standards, especially in the second half, the Wolves boss knew the three points was all that mattered in the end.
“I think we started quite lively, moving the ball well,” he said. “It’s always easy to stand here and say we weren’t at our best, but I think Liverpool were one of the best footballing sides we’ve played this year; the way they moved the ball, it was fantastic, and they caused us some real problems with in a 3-5-2.
“Disappointed by our own performance, and certainly after the break we didn’t match our own standards. I don’t think we came out after half-time, and we conceded within 25 seconds, and that’s not the Wolves we’ve come to know and love, but it’s three points on the board and at this stage in the season that’s important.
“The league is all but done with Forest, but we want to make sure we’re there if there is any slip-ups, so good to get the three points.
“Both centre-halves have scored the goals today and Morph was really committed to the cause and she got in the box and made herself aggressive and got on the end of it, so I’m delighted for her and the same with Naomi’s goal. I’m delighted for her and I felt she was capitalising on all the chances we were creating throughout the game, so it isn’t just down to set pieces.”
On what it’s like working with Naomi
“She’s been fantastic. You can already see her growing in confidence with every game that passes. I thought she was excellent in the game; one of the standout players out there. Everything she did, she did with real quality and she’s calm, controlled and composed.
Fantastic for her and delighted to be working with her and hopefully it will continue into the new season.”
On the importance of the fans at this stage of the season
“Anything can happen, and football is football. As I said, the league is all but done with Forest now, they’ve got a commanding position now with their goal difference and there’s not a lot we can do to control that, but what we can control, is that if they slip up, we’re there to capitalise.
“The fans helped us through difficult moments. With five minutes to play, Tammi got onto the ball and the fans roared to give her that extra energy to get us up the pitch and that’s the difference.
“It’s great to hear them when you’re winning, but in the tough moments when you really need them, that’s when they’re really important and it was great to see so many here, so hopefully they will come on Tuesday and on Sunday for our final league game at home and hopefully we see many more at the County Cup final.”
Coming up
Next for Wolves is a visit to Boldmere in midweek, a place they’ve already been successful this season in the County Cup in their final fixture of 2022.
“It will be a big test,” said McNamara. “They’re fighting for their lives and they’ve just got a win so that very much keeps them in the mix.
“We’ve got to be on it, because if they win on Tuesday they probably stay up and if they lose, it might be the end of their tier three journey. We’ve got to make sure we’re switched on because it’s always dangerous. You’ve seen out there against Liverpool what happens when teams are fighting for their lives.
NEXT FIVE
11/04/23 Boldmere (A)
16/04/23 Derby County (H)
23/04/23 Burnley (A)
30/04/23 Brighouse (A)
County Cup final (TBC)
TEAMS
Wolves | Turner, Morphet, E. Cross, George, J. Cross, Dermody, Holmes (Cooper 70), Bedeau, Toussaint (Dicken 89), Roberts, Merrick (Miller 70).
Liverpool Feds | Darbyshire, Fletcher, Jukes, Kinvig, Smith, Pope, Thompson, Parry (Seagraves 80), Cole, Donoghue, Thomas.
Report by Megan Garbutt
