One advantage of Wolves having plenty of squad depth, is the fact that in cup competitions, manager Dan McNamara can rotate his squad as and when he needs to, and Sunday’s fixture was a perfect example.
Summer singing Maz Taho rounded off her first full 90 minutes of football for the club with a well-deserved hat-trick, with the longest-serving first-team player and club captain Anna Price also scoring a hat trick, stepping up to take a penalty when the chance arose to score her third of the game. This was her third for the club, the other two both coming in the 2007/08 season .
Wolves also gave Grace Gregory, an 18-year-old midfielder who has recently made the move to the first-team, and reserve player Hannah Sparkes their first senior starts. Gregory scored a wonderful goal on her debut, while Sparkes lined up in the back three alongside Katie Johnson and Ria Elsmore - who was on target with her first goal in old gold as she confidently volleyed the ball into the back of the net from close range.
Sparkes' fellow reserve players Phoebe Hill and Amy Hare also made appearances as they came off the bench late in the second-half.
Sunday also saw the return of exciting winger Destiny Toussaint, who came off the bench at half-time and scored four goals. After being out for two months with an injury she sustained in Wolves' away fixture at Nottingham Forest in September, Toussaint is now fully fit and raring to go as McNamara's side head closer to the winter break.
Four goals from Beth Merrick, a curler from Tammi George and Amy Dicken's brace rounded off the victory as Wolves progressed in the competition.
REACTION
McNamara was very pleased with what he saw from all his players on the pitch and said there were plenty of positives to take forward.
“I think it just gives us an opportunity to rotate,” said McNamara. “It also allowed us to give minutes to players that needed them and also use the reserves, thankfully they didn’t have a game, so it’s allowed us to give five/six debuts to some of the young girls coming through.
“It is what it is, you can’t disrespect the fixture by not playing it. I think it’s a wider conversation beyond us; we shouldn’t be in the competition at this stage. I keep saying it every year, but for as long as they keep making the decisions, we’ve got to treat it with the respect that it deserves and the respect that Chelmsley Colt deserves.
“A special mention for them as well, I don’t think they stopped, they were tireless throughout and they worked hard right to the final whistle so big congratulations to them.”
On Gregory's a goal on her senior debut
“Grace has come right through the system, and she’s got a lot of potential. We felt she’s probably just going through the motions a bit in the reserves nowadays, so she needs that test, she needs to be involved with training with the first-team.
“I’m delighted with her performance, it’s all about decision making for Grace and that was really good today. She got herself a goal as well, no matter how it comes that first goal for a senior club is good to get, so we’re delighted for Grace.”
On having strength in depth
“Perksy just loves the club doesn’t she, so a hat-trick for her, I don’t think they come round very often for Anna Price, but she’s delighted. The same for Maz [Taho], she’s had an opportunity to go out there and express herself and play with a bit of freedom and she’s scored an abundance of goals as well, so delighted for them two.
“It’s really tough, because I’m a huge advocate of growing the game, but we have to respect the fixtures and ultimately, people will call us out on social media and they’ll probably give us a little bit of grief, but it’s one of them, we have to play a certain amount of players on a pitch against the opposition we’ve been drawn against and to keep that respect and integrity, that’s what we did.”
On Toussaint's goalscoring return from injury
“We’ve been working hard with her over the last eight weeks. I think it’s been a long eight weeks for her and for us. I don’t want to discredit the girls who have been in there while she’s been away, they’ve been fantastic, but it’s like having a new signing.
“We were all excited to get her back on the pitch. She’s gone on there and you can see what she does in front of goals; she scores goals, four in 45 minutes. I don’t care who the opposition is, that’s good on her behalf.
“As we head into a tough run of fixtures in the League Cup and the FA Cup, we’ve got Durham, they’re a great side, it’s fantastic to have her back in contention with the 16, so delighted for Dest and looking forward to seeing her back on the pitch more regularly.”
On bringing through young talent
“Amy and Phoebe have got really big futures. They’re still only young and still finding their way. Phoebe I think made her debut last year, so she’s probably used to it now. Amy’s come on and really affected the game. She’s really clever, clever with her movements and I’m really excited to work with them two over the next few years.
“They’ve got huge potential to really progress through the club, and hopefully they’ll be knocking on the door for the senior side soon.”
On Summer Holmes and Amy Dicken
“Summer and Dicko are like a comedy act. Every training session people are laughing and joking, and I think they were going straight to an Ndubz concert straight after the game. They’re fantastic, their personalities. It’s not always happy between the two of them let’s say that, but you can see it on the pitch they’ve got a great relationship and they enjoy playing together.”
“A special mention for Dicko, it’s been tough, she’s probably played as many minutes as she’s wanted and she could probably go and get minutes elsewhere, a lot more regularly than she does here, but she perseveres and she comes with a smile every week and I thought she was fantastic, as she is every time, she comes on the pitch to deliver for us.”
NEXT FIVE
- 27/11 Northampton Town (H) FA Cup
- 04/12 Durham Cestria (H) FAWNL Cup
- 18/12 Team TBC County Cup
- 08/01 Liverpool Feds (H)
- 29/01 Huddersfield Town (H)
TEAM
Wolves | Turner, Cooper, Price, Elsmore (George 45), Dicken, Johnson (Hill 64), Miller (Hare 61), Gregory (Toussaint 45), Merrick, Taho, Sparkes (Holmes 45)
