Brighouse Town 0 Wolves 3 (Morphet pen 10, Merrick 33, Bedeau 90+3)
Wolves Women agonisingly missed out on clinching the North Division title for the second year running, as goal difference meant that first place went the way of Nottingham Forest.
The old gold did all they could on the final day of the campaign, putting three past Brighouse Town, but a 3-0 win of their own for Forest gave no slip-up for Dan McNamara’s side to capitalise on, having to settle for second after another season to be proud of.
A 30-yard screamer from Beth Merrick was the highlight of the game as Wolves picked up a well-deserved three points at Brighouse.
Anna Morphet converted from the spot for the second game running, before Merrick’s stunner and Naomi Bedeau’s late third rounded off the season in style.
Both teams came into the game in good form, with Brighouse on an eight-match unbeaten run at home since a 1-0 defeat to Derby County in October. This included a 1-1 draw against league leaders Nottingham Forest which took the title race down to the last game of the season.
The old gold were arguably the best away side in the league as they picked up maximum points away from home in every single game apart from one, a draw against Liverpool Feds in August.
Wolves started brightly and dominated possession from the first whistle. It didn't take long for them to take the lead as Merrick was taken down in the box, leading to a penalty that was calmly slotted home by the reliable Morphet.
The visitors continued to control the game, snuffing out Brighouse's attempts to counter-attack before they were given the chance to develop. The home side had no answer for the duo of Beth’s (Roberts and Merrick) down the left-hand side as they terrorised the Brighouse defence in the early stages of the game.
This continued as Merrick picked up the ball centrally from around 30 yards out. She was given space from the Brighouse defenders who attempted to block off any passes for the winger to make. However, Merrick saw this as an opportunity and fired the ball towards Becky Flaherty’s goal with power and movement, with the ball flying into the back of the net via the crossbar to double the lead after just over half an hour.
A goal of the season contender from Beth Merrick!
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) May 1, 2023
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Half-time | Brighouse 0-2 Wolves
In the second half, Wolves came out with a more possession-based style of play as they attempted to keep the ball and frustrate the Brighouse players into pressing so they could be caught over the top, often to Destiney Toussaint. Wolves showed a great example of this early on, as a pressing Brighouse were caught by a ball over to Amber Hughes, who looked to create some space for a strike, but a last-ditch tackle from a Brighouse defender was able to prevent a third.
These attempts to frustrate Brighouse with continuous possession was effective as the home side began to give away fouls near their own box, with one opportunity coming right on the edge of their box. Merrick stepped up and struck the ball well, but it just bounced off of the crossbar as the visitors looked likely to get on the scoresheet once again.
However, Brighouse showed a lot of fight and they continued to defend well, denying any opportunities Wolves could create, but they were unable to cause problems on the attack.
Wolves turned up the pressure even more, as Helen Dermody came close to adding a third with a strike from just outside of the box which made its way just over the bar. This pressure eventually led to a corner in the dying embers of the game. The ball was whipped in and after a scramble in the box the ball bounced to Bedeau, who hit a sweet volley into the top corner of the goal to grab her second goal in old gold.
However, even with a statement win, Wolves were unfortunately unable to become back-to-back North Division champions as Nottingham Forest ensured they got their own job done to frustrate McNamara and his team who missed out on goal difference.
Full-time | Brighouse 0-3 Wolves
NEXT GAME
The final game of Wolves Women’s campaign will be another trip to Molineux as the old gold take on Stourbridge Women in the County Cup Final, with McNamara’s side looking to win the competition for the second season running.
TEAMS
Brighouse | Flaherty, Bamforth, Darcy Greene (O’Connor 84), Legge, Dean, Cass, Drew Greene (Clayton 88), Kemp, Sowerby, Prior, Watson (Wilcox 62).
Wolves | Turner, Cooper, Morphet, E. Cross (Price 90), J. Cross, Dermody (Johnson 85), Hughes (Holmes 75), Bedeau, Toussaint (Smith 90), Roberts (Dicken 68), Merrick.
Report by Callum Brannan
