For the second time in the space of eight days, Wolves Women beat Brighouse Town, with first half goals from Beth Merrick and Amber Hughes securing a fourth win on the spin for Dan McNamara’s side.
Merrick tapped home in the opening minute, before Hughes poked home Wolves’ second before the half-hour mark, as the old gold maintained their grip on top spot in the FAWNL Northern Premier Division.
The old gold came out firing from the first minute. A fine move saw Hughes played in down the right, and after advancing into the box, she squared for Merrick to tap home for Wolves’ quickest goal of the season so far.
In the 28th minute, fans were treated to some twin magic as Emma Cross played a cross-field pass to sister Jade, who squared for Hughes to poke home for her 11th goal of the season.
Wolves continued to dominate the first half, with Hughes and Jade Cross causing real problems for the visitors on that right wing. Brighouse’s closest chance came from a strike which skimmed just wide of the post, as they searched for a route back into the game.
Half-time | Wolves 2-0 Brighouse Town
The second half started at a quick pace, as Brighouse tried to take advantage of their increased possession, but never truly threatened the Wolves defence. Instead, the hosts almost grabbed a third, as Merrick played a clever through ball to Tammi George, who drove from midfield before sliding a pass to Maz Gauntlett, whose shot forced a good save out of the Brighouse stopper.
Brighouse searched for a route back into the game, and Imogen Williams almost benefitted from a defensive mix-up from McNamara’s side, but her effort flew just wide.
As the game wore on, Brighouse continued to push forward, but the Wolves defence stood strong, and were able to hold on for a second successive clean sheet and victory over the side from West Yorkshire.
Full-time | Wolves 2-0 Brighouse Town
REACTION
Post-match, head coach McNamara said: “In the first half I thought we were outstanding; it was one of the most complete performances I’ve seen all season. The way we moved the ball was amazing and sometimes it’s hard to replicate that in the second half. Credit to the Brighouse manager, he changed a few things and made things difficult for us in the second half as they looked a lot more dangerous.
“Bec Thomas made some fantastic saves towards the end of the game, we kept the clean sheet and another three points. We’re nearly halfway through the season now so it’s really important to get three points in the bag.”
On the early goal
“I was delighted, not just with that one, but with both goals we scored today. In training we’ve been working on those patterns of play, with Beth Merrick getting in around the back and more link up between Jade Cross and Amber Hughes. It’s fantastic to see the girls taking on board what we are trying to do, I made them stay behind a little longer on Thursday because they weren’t quite getting it so it’s fantastic to see their hard work paying off.”
On Amber Hughes and Jade Cross
“Amber is very clever with her movement to get in that position to finish the goal off, but Jade Cross gets the plaudits for me, along with Emma Cross before that. As I said before, we worked on it in training with Jade getting it from out wide and then firing it across the box, along with the movements from the forwards in the box to get the finish. It was an all-around fantastic team goal.”
On the second half
“They’re a great side and they have a great manager, so it wasn’t a surprise that they came at us in the second-half. We had the better of the first half and they adapted to us brilliantly, we did really well to contain them in the second half. I think they’ll see their group come together and get the wins they need over the next few weeks. They’re tough opposition and I think they’ll take points off some big teams this season.”
On Summer Holmes’ performance
“I first noticed Summer three and a half years ago when I first came in and wanted to work with her. She’s an outstanding football player and she showed that today. She’s tenacious, she’s aggressive in the right moments, so credit to her, I thought she was really good but she was carrying a bit of a knock towards the end so we took her off so she can get well rested.
“All the starting eleven deserve praise today, including the players who came off the bench and even those who didn’t, they all put in effort going into this game and it got us three points along with two clean sheets against very tough opposition.”
On FA Cup action up next
“It’s a fantastic competition, I think we’re quite disappointed with how we performed last year in the FA Cup, we exited quite early against Nottingham Forest, and they went on to make some big memories. I keep saying it, football is short, life is short and it’s about making memories together as a group, we have an opportunity to do that next week to that in the first round of the FA Cup.
“There’s also big money available if you get through a few rounds and we want to make sure we’re repaying the club for what they’re doing for us. We will respect Shrewsbury, I know they play a couple of leagues below us, but that’s the magic of the FA Cup, that’s why you have to make sure you’re on your game and I’m so excited for it.”
NEXT FIVE
- 13/11/22 Shrewsbury (A) FA Cup first round
- 20/11/22 Chelmsley Colts (A) County Cup
- 18/12/22 AFC Fylde (A)
- 08/01/23 Liverpool Feds (H)
- 29/01/23 Huddersfield Town (H)
TEAMS
Wolves | Thomas, Morphet, E. Cross, Elsmore, George, Gauntlett (Miller, 70), J. Cross, Dermody, Hughes, Holmes (Cooper 84), Merrick.
Brighouse Town | Flaherty, Bamforth, Greene, Legge, Dean, Greene, Kemp, Williams, Sowerby, Wilcock, Watson.
