Dan McNamara applauded his team’s “grit and determination” as Wolves Women secured the three points in their FAWNL clash with Rugby Borough over the weekend.
Two goals either side of half-time – two courtesy of Amber Hughes and one an Amy Sims strike from distance – were enough to give McNamara’s side the victory, despite two late goals from the hosts at Kilsby Lane.
The win maintained the Old Gold’s unbeaten start to the campaign, having taken seven points from the first nine available, as attention now swings towards the Women’s National League Cup this weekend.
On the performance
“I said to the girls before the game, good teams find ways to win when they’re not at their best, and I thought we were far from our best today. It’s such a tough place to come, Rugby play this pitch really well – it’s horrible astroturf.
“We’ve shown parts of our games that we probably didn’t see last year, a real grit and determination to fight out a result.
“So huge credit to the girls to be, I wouldn’t say hanging on, but for it to be 3-2 is disappointing. Especially after it was 3-0 after 70 minutes, we let ourselves down in the last 20 minutes.”
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) August 31, 2025
On the goal scorers
“There are goals all over the pitch. Amber [Hughes] scores goals, that’s what she does, and Amy Sims is popping up with some outstanding finishes over the start of this season, so huge credit to her.
“Today I thought she [Sims] was tremendous, her and Becky Anderson, it was tough in that first part of the game where Rugby tried to overload our midfield with their four and our three. We struggled to win first and second balls, but we stayed in it; they stuck together and fought and took what Rugby threw at them.”
On the impressive start to the season
“That will be a welcome two-week break from the league. Massive respect to the girls, to come into the season as they did, in what I think is probably the hardest start in the National League, to play Burnley, Liverpool Feds and Rugby Borough, with Stoke in between.
“If you had said seven points out of nine with a win in the cup, I would have snapped your hand off, so huge credit to the girls for what they’ve done.
“We can enjoy next week now [against Manchester United PGA]. It’s always nice to play at home, so we’ll see where we go with that one and make sure we’re ready for Middlesbrough the week after.”
