Wolves Women manager Dan McNamara was pleased with the reaction his side showed as they scored five against AFC Fylde following last weekend’s defeat at Stoke City.
Destiney Toussaint stole the headlines with a first half hat-trick, while McNamara has also praised the performance of goalkeeper Bec Thomas who returned to the starting line-up in Shan Turner’s absence and made a crucial save on her way to keeping a clean sheet. Prior to the match, both teams observed a minute’s silence in tribute to Maddy Cusack who sadly passed away last week, with McNamara offering his condolences following the tragic news.
On paying tribute to Maddy Cusack
“It’s been tough. Massive condolences to everyone associated with Maddy – her friends, family. It’s been a tough week right across women’s football.
“We’ve got a few girls who have been massively affected by what’s gone on. It’s amazing to see the football community come together to mourn a huge loss.”
On getting a reaction
“We talked before the game about a reaction and the girls knew we wanted a reaction. We weren’t happy with the performance, although we made it difficult for ourselves at Stoke last week with 10 players after half an hour.
“I thought we were fantastic today. First half we saw that intensity back, that real desire and tempo in everything we did.
“I’m really pleased and Destiney (Toussaint) did fantastic for us today and came up with three goals for herself.”
On sticking to the game plan
“I’m really pleased with the way we executed the game plan. Today they’ve gone out and executed what we knew the weaknesses would be for Fylde and I think we exploited them really well in that counter attacking and counter pressing phase in the first half.
“I’m delighted for the girls and it’s fantastic to get the good feeling back amongst the girls.”
On the performance of Bec Thomas in goal
“I went straight over to Bec at half-time. It’s the small things that people don’t often see - at 2-0 she’s made an unbelievable save.
“We talk about momentum a lot and trying to control momentum. If that goes in, it’s 2-1 and all of a sudden we see a different Fylde.
“I’m delighted for her coming in. Bec’s one of those – she shouldn’t be sat on the bench at tier three, she should be playing week in week out.
“She’s been outstanding when called upon. Shan’s (Turner) obviously away representing her country, so Bec has stepped in and kept a clean sheet.
“She deserved that because of her performance. I thought she was excellent with her footwork, but the save at that crucial moment in the game was key.”
On playing Nottingham Forest in the League Cup next
“We want to play the best teams and Forest are up there with probably the best in tier three at the minute - the players they’ve brought in and what they’re doing as a football club.
“We want to be testing ourselves against players of that nature and clubs of that ilk.
“We’re really looking forward to it. It will be a tough week and I’m sure the girls will be full of confidence after today, but we know it’s going to be a completely different challenge, especially away from home.
“There will be loads of rotation. We’ve got players who deserve to be on the pitch after recent performances, so we’ll be getting them on the pitch but ultimately we want to go as deep as we can in all the cup competitions. Hopefully we can do that next week and come away with a positive result.”
