Dan McNamara was pleased that his Wolves Women side secured a 1-0 FA WNL victory over West Brom in front of a 2,127-strong crowd at Molineux.
A superb diving header by Amber Hughes was enough for the Old Gold as they kept within touching distance of leaders, Burnley.
McNamara touched on his side’s performance, Hughes’ display, as well as the fantastic Molineux attendance and his pre-match run for the Wolves Foundation.
On the performance
“I’ve got to admit that [first half] was terrible. I don't know what I dislike more, the 10K I did this morning, or that first half performance!
“At halftime, I was quite stern with them. That wasn't good enough; it didn't deserve this platform, that didn't deserve the [just under] 2,500 fans that came in. I've got to give credit to the girls. I thought they responded and showed a lot of character.
“The second half performance, was it perfect? Absolutely not. [But] What a group, what a group, because they'll always find a way, and they've done that again today against a really resilient West Brom team.
“I thought they [West Brom] looked like a team that were desperate to end this record. I think that stretches it to seven years since we've lost to them in the league, which is a phenomenal record, but credit to West Brom, I thought they made it really difficult for us today, but I don't think we made it any less difficult for ourselves with a really under-par performance.”
On Amber Hughes’ display
“She’s unplayable at times. I thought they [West Brom] dealt with her really well, but you give her one chance, and then she'll score, and that's why she's up there with the finest people and one of the finest players that I've worked with.
“She's the difference again today. Look away from the goal. It's her work rate, it's her effort, it's her intensity in what she does; she doesn't stop. She looks like she's 20. No one realises she's 31, 32, at the tail end of her career. Unbelievable, again, from Amber.
“Good teams find ways to win when they're not at their best, and I thought that was exactly what that was today.”
On the defensive performance
“When you're playing against a team like that: they do what they do really well, they sit in, and yes, they were a bit more aggressive today - I thought they weren't as low as they were in the midweek – but you're going to get moments where the ball turns over, and they're going to look dangerous.
“I thought there were moments that we [me and the staff] got wrong, we will hold our hands up and say that. But the way in which we play, high and intense, we've got to trust our defenders to play one versus one at the back, and we'll always concede opportunities.
“I thought West Brom looked lively on the break, but if you don’t put a couple in the goal, you can look as lively as you want. Because the score stays one-nil at the end of the day, and we've got another clean sheet and another win against ‘that lot down the road’ as I get told they're described as.”
On playing in front of the 2,127-strong crowd at Molineux
Yeah, it does [mean a lot]. I think you see the performance of some of the players today, as I said, at halftime, we had some really harsh words, I thought they were letting themselves down.
“The response that we got from KJ [Katie Johnson], Morph [Anna Morphet], Robbo [Beth Roberts], Amber [Hughes] and the whole starting eleven. I thought Ando [Becky Anderson] went in there and really shored it up. It was a toss-up whether she was going to play today, and she showed why she plays the majority of the games and having said that, I don’t think Abi [Loydon] was particularly poorer than anybody else, but we just felt we needed a bit of experience in there to slow the game down, and Ando certainly gives us that.
“It means the world to everyone when you play against West Brom. You can see by how a few people commented on my reaction to the goal, but that's what it means to beat them, and to stay in this title race.
“We've got three games to go now, and we're still in it. We're still pushing, we're seeing today that Halifax took Burnley to 70 minutes. The hardest thing to do is get over the line, and if they do it, I'll say, congratulations, and if they don't, we'll be ready and waiting.”
On supporting the Wolves Foundation pre-match
“Well, we did it in 51 minutes and 30 seconds, so not bad for a fat lad! A 40-year-old fat lad, by the way!
“I just love supporting the Foundation. I love getting out there and seeing the people of Wolverhampton. I thought it was brilliant today - There are so many people on the streets, it's just a really good occasion.
“But as I said, when you get an opportunity to support the Foundation, I think back to eight, nine years ago, there wouldn’t be a Wolves Women if it wasn't for the Foundation until we got taken under the club's banner.
“It was fantastic, and I think out of the 5 of us, I just pipped it on the line as well, which was really pleasing. The coaching staff all lost to me, so, yeah, fantastic.”
