Dan McNamara expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance on Sunday, as Wolves claimed a 3-0 win over AFC Sudbury to book their place in the quarterfinals of the FA WNL Cup.
The Old Gold took control and broke the deadlock with Rachael Quigley’s opener just before half-time, before second-half goals from Beth Merrick and Charlotte Greengrass wrapped up the victory.
The Wolves boss praised his side’s performance, especially given the long trip and testing pitch conditions.
On his side progressing into the next round
“It’s all that we wanted, it was an absolute jaunt to get down here this morning, and we’d talked about progression, no injuries, and could we perform today and I’d say we got two and a half out of those three.
“Credit to Sudbury, it’s always tough when they just sit in front of their goal, it doesn’t matter what team it is, it’s really difficult to break down.
“I don’t think the surface helped, it’s a tough surface to play on but winning 3-0, I don’t think many teams have kept clean sheets against them this year, I think they score quite freely which is a real positive but as I said, progression and coming out with no injuries was the real outcomes and we got them.”
On Wolves’ quality defending
“When you’re playing in those deep blocks, you’re always going to get moments on the turnover of the ball, and I thought AJ dealt with them really well.
“I just felt we needed to move the ball a little bit quicker in that first half and run, I know it sounds silly but we spoke about it at half time and being that little bit more intense with your actions, which I think you definitely saw in the first 10-15 minutes of the second half.
“We were rewarded with a great goal, created by some great teamwork.
“The girls know it wasn’t the finest of displays but after three and a half hours on a coach and playing on a tough surface it’s progression and that is all that we were after.
“I’m delighted to get through, and we look forward to the draw, whenever that is!”
On their next clash against Loughborough Lightening
“Loughborough picked up a good point today on the road and I know that they are going to come and be tough.
“But we know that every team in our league are hard to beat and Loughborough are fighting at the bottom, so we have got to make sure that we are ready.
“It’s been brilliant to see Anna Grey back on the pitch today and it’s been great for Milly Robertson to get her first 90 minutes after a long time.
“It’s headaches all around for us and the coaching staff, so the girls have got to keep performing and doing the right things and as I said I think we’ve got more than enough to match every team in this league and it’s important that we keep striving in the right direction.”
By Scarlett Lester
