Wolves 0 Derby County 0
Wolves Women were left frustrated in their attempts to capitalise on Nottingham Forest’s dropping of points, as Derby County held on to secure a goalless draw at the New Bucks Head on Sunday afternoon.
The three-horse title race looked to be heating up when Forest could only muster a draw of their own at Brighouse Town but, despite their best efforts, the old gold had to settle for a point against the Rams, while challengers Burnley took advantage by beating West Brom.
The first 25 minutes of the match proved to be a challenge for Dan McNamara’s girls as they struggled to get out of their half, gifting the Rams a great deal of possession leading to the Wolves defence constantly finding themselves defending.
However, as half-time approached, Wolves found the energy they were lacking which saw the home side create a string of opportunities that led to several chances and set-pieces putting Derby under pressure.
A teasing Beth Merrick corner was headed towards goal by Destiney Toussaint only to be cleared off the line by some last-ditch defending, giving both the players and fans of Wolves hope for a breakthrough.
Half-time I Wolves 0-0 Derby County
Wolves kept pushing throughout the second 45, looking for that one moment to get the 669 crowd on their feet. One opportunity almost saw the back of the net ripple as Laura Cooper had a shot after a poorly cleared corner fell to her feet, but the attempt whistled just wide of the post.
The chances continued to be in the hosts favour as a beautifully placed corner from Merrick found the head of Tammi George in the box who nodded towards goal, only to be denied by Sarah Morgan, the Derby goalkeeper, who was keeping a hungry Wolves at bay.
As the game drew to a close there was a late penalty shout from the Wolves players that was swiftly waved off by referee Ryan Dobson, much to the frustration of the old gold.
Although Wolves gave everything they had in the final 45 minutes of the game, their efforts were well-saved by Wilson who was able to keep a clean sheet and secure a point for the visitors.
Full-time I Wolves 0-0 Derby County
REACTION
Following the stalemate, McNamara expressed his frustration at being unable to capitalise on results elsewhere going their way:
“It’s tough to take as elsewhere things have gone our way and we haven’t been able to capitalise here and that’s probably that for this season, so it’s really raw.
“We have to get better as a group. I’ve said it all season, we can’t register 17 shots on goal in the second half and come off with nil.
“These are the cards we’ve been delt, so we have to go again next week against a very in-form and a very tough opponent.”
On his words to the girls at half-time
“Derby are a great side and Sam’s got them playing really well for a group of young great talented players. They’re always going to play well and create chances and we knew that we had to create chances going the other way.
“I think in the first 15 they created a few with good value and then we started to come into the game, we controlled moments of it and in the second half we created more chances and the chances we created still didn’t register a goal.
“It’s just tough to take and the girls are disappointed but it is what it is. We need to work hard and get back on the training field and try and put the disappointment behind us.”
On preparations for Burnley away
“It’s the same message as the last two weeks - we need to keep the pressure on. We always knew there would be an opportunity and we had to be ready to capitalise and I think Burnley have done that today with their win against West Brom so that puts them back in the mix so they will be hungry to win the game next week and keep the pressure on.
“We have got to go there next week and try not to concentrate on losing. As I said it’s hard to take today but we know they’re going to be a difficult side next week, so we’ve got to try and put this disappointment behind us quite quickly and prepare how we always do week in and week out to make sure we’re ready to get the most out of it.”
NEXT THREE
23/04 Burnley (A)
30/04 Brighouse Town (A)
09/05 Stourbridge Ladies BCC
TEAMS
Wolves | Turner, Cooper, Morphet, E. Cross, George, J. Cross, Dermody (Price 90+9), Johnson (Hughes 70), Bedeau, Toussaint (Miller 90+3).
Derby County | Morgan, Sims, Ward, Clarkson, Joyce, Wilson, McGrother, Sutherland, Hilliard (Camwell 80), Gaspar (Rai 56), Rhodes-Andrews.
Report by Charlotte Copperwheat
