Katie Johnson has said that credit must go to everyone involved in Sunday’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup tie with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Wolves Women fought with their Super League opponents right until the very end and despite eventually losing by four goals to one, defender Johnson says she’s proud of everyone, both players and staff, who put in a heroic performance in front of a roaring record crowd at the New Bucks Head.
On giving everything
“The girls have given an absolutely great performance for ourselves and give credit to ourselves. We had a game plan and executed it perfectly until 85 minutes and then switched off in the wrong moments.
“I don’t think 4-1 was a fair scoreline for us but I think we battled really hard. Credit to the girls today and credit to all the staff, I think we’ve worked really hard these past few months and I’m just really proud of everyone today to be honest.
“It’s making me quite emotional, so I’m proud of everyone today.”
On the key to the performance
“We just had to battle hard for each other, win our one v one battles, stayed switched on at all times was key.
“We had a game plan and we executed it perfectly. Everyone knew their roles, everyone knew their responsibilities and we knew the standards we were going to come up against.
“We’re also very good players ourselves. We’ve got a great squad and set of staff behind us. We just had to believe in ourselves and we did that.
“It’s a shame that it was 4-1 but we gave a good account of ourselves out there today.”
On Beth Merrick’s equaliser
“It was a great moment for Beth, I’m really proud of her for that. We created chances off set pieces a lot, I could feel a goal coming off a set piece.
“After it went 1-1, we had a few breaks on that I think we could’ve maybe done something with.
“It was a great moment for the whole club, we’re just disappointed and we’ll go again next week against Baggies.”
On the support for the team
“They were absolutely outstanding to be honest. I think it was nearly 2,000 and you could really hear it – every tackle we won, every header we won, every counter-attack we went on. You could really hear them getting behind us.
“Macca at half-time was getting them behind us again and it really helped us stay in the game for as long as we did.
“They were like our twelfth player today. Thanks to everyone for coming for that.”
On creating memories
“We’ve created a lot of memories and today will be another memory, even though it might be a disappointing one it’s definitely a memory to keep.
“The fact that we were level with a WSL side for 85 minutes is credit to ourselves and where we’re at as a club right now.
“It’s a mix of emotions right now but it’s definitely a good memory for us.”
On facing West Brom next week
“We want the same and hopefully the same amount against Baggies. It’s going to be a tough game and we want to get into that final to stay champions of the County Cup.
“We want everyone to get down here again and be our twelfth player again. Hopefully we can get into the final for everyone.”
