Wolves 4 (Hughes 12, Greengrass 15, George 75, Denham 87 ) Stourbridge 0
Wolves Women kick-started their season with a 4-0 victory over Stourbridge at the SEAH Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Amber Hughes, Charlotte Greengrass, Tammi George and Ania Denham were all on the scoresheet in the opening game of the 2024/25 campaign against their Black Country rivals.
The Old Gold were first to threaten when Anna Morphet stood over a free-kick, but her effort was saved by Harriet Grimshaw in the visiting goal. However, it took just 11 minutes for the home side to break the deadlock, and it was Morphet’s corner kick delivery that caused problems in the centre as Hughes was first to meet it and head home from a few yards out.
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) August 18, 2024
A second goal followed just three minutes later as some good work down the right wing by Jade Cross resulted in her deep cross being attacked by debutant Greengrass who was able to prod into the net on the stretch.
Hughes looked lively for Dan McNamara’s side and was eager to double her tally for the afternoon, taking advantage of space outside of the area to strike, but Grimshaw was right behind it.
Stourbridge were quick on the counter-attack as the half drew to a close but were closely marshalled by Summer Holmes, whose defensive work led to a corner that was gratefully into the gloves of Bec Thomas.
Half-time | Wolves 2-0 Stourbridge
After the break, McNamara’s side started strong as George’s shot was saved resulting in a corner which the same player headed wide. Closely followed was Greengrass’ attempt of her second goal as she headed the ball straight at Grimshaw.
Substitutes Josie Smith and Amelia Hiscox, the latter making her league debut at just 16, quickly made an impact as Smith raced down the right and won a corner, but Morphet’s following set-piece narrowly evaded those in the middle.
Hiscox then played a perfect ball into the box for the chance to make it three, as her cross landed straight to Beth Roberts’ feet, however she could only fire over.
The third goal of the afternoon finally arrived with 15 minutes to play when George found space in the box and shifted the ball onto her left before firing past Grimshaw.
The real positives of the day came courtesy of the younger players making an impact off the bench, and Denham was next to strike to round off the victory within two minutes of coming on. Two substitutes combined as Smith delivered from the right and Denham got across her marker to finish at the near post and notch her first league goal in Old Gold three minutes from time.
Full-time | Wolves 4-0 Stourbridge
A successful opening day ✔️ pic.twitter.com/51nng9qgBf
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) August 18, 2024
TEAMS
Wolves | Thomas (GK), Morphet, Holmes, George (MacPhail 85), J. Cross (Denham 85), Loydon (Hiscox 65), Hughes (Smith 65), Greengrass, Johnson (Fryer 85), Roberts, Jenner.
Stourbridge | Grimshaw (GK), Griffiths, Hadley (McCann-Lloyd 46), Mantom, Clearkin (Bennett-Steele 85) Clements, Hill (G. Rogers 46) , Joyce (McIntosh 46), Horgan, Rogers (Hood 62), Embley.
NEXT FIVE
· 25/08/2024 Derby County (A) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
· 28/08/2024 Stoke City (H) FAWNL Cup Determining Round
· 1/09/2024 Nottingham Forest (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
· 8/09/2024 Burnley (A) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
· 15/09/2024 Hull City (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
Report by Scarlett Lester
