Wolves 2 (Greengrass 21, Hughes 90+3) Stoke City 1 (Wilson 52)
Wolves Women returned to the SEAH Stadium in stunning style on Wednesday evening after Amber Hughes’ last-gasp winner secured all three points against Stoke City in their opening group game of the FAWNL Cup.
Charlotte Greengrass was first to find the back of the net for Wolves before Emilia Wilson equalised for the Potters, but Hughes’ effort enabled Dan McNamara’s side to come out victorious.
Wolves had to be patient in the opening stages of the fixture but eventually got their reward on the 21st minute when Greengrass tapped in from close range.
Greengrass played a fantastic long-range pass over to Beth Merrick on the left wing, who lost her marker and delivered a pinpoint cross to her attacking teammate inside the area to put Wolves ahead.
Moments later, McNamara’s side were on the brink of a second goal when Jade Cross’s effort narrowly drifted past the post on the 25th minute.
The visitors continued to be a threat in their attempts to get forward, but failed to register a shot on goal against Alex Brooks in the early stages of the contest.
But Cross was full of energy from the right wing-back position for the Old Gold, consistently delivering inviting crosses into the area and was unfortunate not to get her name on the scoresheet when she was denied by Stoke keeper Harriet Grimshaw prior to the half-time interval.
Half-time | Wolves 1-0 Stoke
Stoke came out fighting after the break, and Wilson brought the visitors level with her strike on 52 minutes - firing into the top corner.
Wolves were unfortunate not to regain their advantage moments after conceding when Greengrass’s attempt deflected off the post. Merrick attempted to keep the attack alive with a delicate chip back over to Greengrass, but Grimshaw held onto the number 12's second effort.
Abi Loydon provided a vital piece of defending on the 60th minute when she denied Delphie Cole from advancing forward, while McNamara introduced fresh legs into the team as the second half wore on, to inspire options going forward, but the visitors were persistent in their defensive duties.
Wolves saw multiple chances being denied and as the clock kept ticking, it looked like the hosts were going to be forced to settle for a draw.
That was until the 93rd minute, when substitute Louanne Worsey’s fantastic cross found Hughes in the box and, inevitably, the deadly striker found the back of the net to seal all three points for Wolves.
Full-time | Wolves 2-1 Stoke
Wolves | Brooks, Marshall, Cross, Loydon, Greengrass (Gray 83), Quigley (Hughes 70), Johnson, Anderson (Sims 70), Roberts, Williams (Harkin 70), Merrick (Worsey 78).
Unused subs | Thomas, Hiscox.
Stoke | Grimshaw, Molinari, Cook, Scott, Cooper (Deering 32), Wilson, Reidford, Wilkinson, Stamps, Priestley, Cole (Collins 70).
Unused subs | Farrell, Lancaster, Hughes, Tudor, Millington.
By Thomas Gibson
