Stourbridge 0 Wolves 8 (Hughes 3, 13, Morphet 7, 71 pen, George 20, 45+1, Fergusson 49, 81)
Wolves Women ruthlessly picked up all three points on derby night at Stourbridge, putting eight past the Glassgirls on Wednesday.
Amber Hughes, Anna Morphet, Tammi George and substitute Liv Fergusson each hit a brace at the War Memorial Ground, as Dan McNamara’s side put their local rivals to the sword.
The opening goal came after just three minutes, as Hughes was able to rifle home from close range on the turn, after the home side were unable to clear their lines following superb play down the left wing from George.
It took just four more minutes for the lead to be doubled, as captain Morphet leapt unchallenged from a Beth Merrick corner - which she initially won as a long-throw caused havoc among the Glassgirls - to create the dream scenario with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
It would get even better after 13 minutes, as Hughes created great space for herself on the right-hand side before drilling a right-footed effort across Jamie Bamford’s net to make it 3-0 to the visitors, giving Stourbridge a mountain to climb.
Two further chances came through Katie Johnson and Beth Roberts before George made it 4-0 on 20 minutes, as Morphet’s corner evaded everyone except the midfielder, who timed her run to perfection as a slide-rule finish found the bottom right-hand corner.
Layla Banaras, alongside Lexie Harrison, made her first start in Old Gold, and the youngster saw a pot-shot well saved before the hosts created their first half-chance of the contest, as Hannah Fishwick attempted to catch Bec Thomas off-guard but an audacious effort was dragged wide of the target.
Hughes and George remained a constant threat throughout, and after seeing further efforts denied by the work of Bamford and defender Katie Embley, the latter notched her second of the encounter moments before half-time.
An initial header saw Johnson smack the post from close range, before the number seven was on hand to react after her initial shot was blocked, heading home from close range to make it a five-star first half for Wolves.
Half-time | Stourbridge 0-5 Wolves
McNamara made a triple-switch at the break as Meesha Dudley-Jones, Ellie Wilson and Fergusson replaced Johnson, Roberts and Summer Holmes.
The visitors continued their bright performance early into the second half, as Merrick switched over to the left side but dragged a shot narrowly wide. However, just moments later, Fergusson was on hand to net with her first touch as Hughes turned provider to make it 6-0.
She then linked up superbly with George, with the latter chesting down a superb through-ball, before firing a fierce drive just wide of Bamford’s right-hand post.
Fergusson continued to be a thorn in Stourbridge’s side despite just coming on, and she sent Hughes through but Bamford made herself big, denying the in-form striker the matchball on yet another occasion.
Senna Robinson looked to create something out of nothing for the hosts, and despite her long-distance run, no Stourbridge forward was able to connect with her low cross.
All of Wolves’ substitutions were made by the 62nd minute as Sophie Bramford and Jade Cross replaced George and Merrick, following the aforementioned triple-sub at half-time.
After a much more competitive second half, Bramford was brought down inside the area, and Morphet sent Bamford the wrong way to make it 7-0 after 71 minutes, with the away side looking to equal their result against the same opponents back in November’s FA Cup tie, with time still very much on their side.
Wolves continued to probe for more, as Fergusson’s cross narrowly missed Hughes, before going close herself with a looping header from within the six-yard box.
With just under 10 minutes remaining, the centre-forward netted her second of the evening, dinking the ball nonchalantly into the corner, doubling her tally for this game and the season in the process.
The final opportunity of the night came Cross’ way, but the substitute just couldn’t quite get in on the act, as her shot was well-saved in the late stages of added time.
Time was then called on another fine victory for the Old Gold in front of a crowd of 401. The result keeps Wolves in fourth place on 29 points ahead of a busy period to round off the FAWNL Northern Premier Division campaign.
Full-time | Stourbridge 0-8 Wolves
NEXT FIVE
Halifax (H) – 07/04
Fylde (A) – 14/04
Nottingham Forest (H) – 21/04
Derby (H) – 24/04
Halifax (A) – 28/04
TEAMS
Stourbridge | Bamford, Griffiths (Bennett-Steele 75), Murphy, Timms, Clarke (Bate 75), Clements, Embley, Richardson (Omenazu 58), Winters, Fishwick (Grove 64), Robinson (Williams 80).
Wolves | Thomas, Morphet, Harrison, George (Bramford 62), Hughes, Banaras, Holmes (Fergusson 46), Johnson (Wilson 46), Fryer, Roberts (Dudley-Jones 46), Merrick (J. Cross 62).
Report by Benedict Ferraby
