Dan McNamara has bemoaned his side’s first half display as Wolves Women fell to a penalty shootout defeat in the Birmingham Challenge Cup final.
Wolves were two down at the break but rallied to fight back three times in the second half, dramatically sending the tie to spot-kicks following a 4-4 draw in normal time. Borough eventually prevailed on penalties to deny the Old Gold a third successive crown, with manager McNamara reflecting on a game of two halves and a stretched squad.
On the first half display
“First and foremost I’d like to apologise for the first half which I thought was a disgrace for what we’ve shown over the years.
“I apologise to the fans for the first half. Second half, I said to them if they go out there and perform like they just have done, this will end up 5-0.
“I thought Rugby fought for every first and second ball, I thought they were absolutely outstanding. They were the only team who wanted it in the first half.”
On winning the second half
“The half-time talk was about showing a bit of character and maybe trying to win the second half – not much pressure on them, try and win the second half.
“They’ve done that, albeit we’re still disappointed with some of the goals we’ve conceded.
“Overall, it was one of those games of two halves and Rugby probably deserved it with the way they performed in certain key moments.”
On being light on numbers
“It’s been tough in the lead-up. We’re struggling at the minute, we had 13 senior players available tonight. Two of the 16s have got really good exposure to what being in a first-team environment can look like.
“That’s a massive bonus for us and that second half, we were excellent. You can’t perform like we did in the first half in finals because good teams will punish you – that’s exactly what Rugby Borough did.”
