Wolves Women celebrated a memorable 3-1 victory over local rivals West Bromwich Albion in a highly-anticipated Black Country derby at the Hawthorns.
Despite going a goal down inside the opening 10 minutes, Dan McNamara’s side fought back through Beth Roberts’ first goal for the club, before Destiney Toussaint’s brace put the old gold out of reach to complete a league double over their rivals.
In front of 1,275 supporters at the Hawthorns, the match was marked by a historic milestone for Anna Price who made her 349th appearance for Wolves, which set a new club record in her 22nd Black Country derby.
Wolves were able to start the game on top with the link-up play between Roberts and Beth Merrick causing real problems for the West Brom defence. Merrick got a chance early on as she charged through on goal and attempted to bend the ball into the top corner, but it went just wide.
The home side were able to go against the oncoming old gold tide to take the lead. The ball rebounded to Maria Timms from a corner, and she was able to take full advantage of the space she was given. Timms fired the ball and it nestled into the back of the net, even though Shan Turner was able to get her hand to the ball.
West Brom continued their good spell, as they pressed well and forced the Wolves defence into making mistakes when trying to play the ball out from the back.
However, the visitors didn’t have to wait long for an equaliser as Merrick picked up the ball and held off the Baggies defender before she played a fantastic through ball to Roberts who poked the ball high in at the near post to equalise.
Wolves began to take control of proceedings and as Roberts continued to terrorise the Baggies’ backline, she made tracks down the left-hand side before floating a cross into the box which found the head of Toussaint before the ball found the back of the net to give Wolves the lead.
That goal scoring feeling 🤗 pic.twitter.com/HYomWgrMJx
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) March 16, 2023
McNamara’s team continued their dominant spell as they did not give West Brom a chance to recover before half-time. Jade Cross picked up the ball and played it out wide to the overlapping Toussaint who saw her chance to strike. The ball took a big deflection off of the opposition defender which sent the ball in the air and over Charlotte Clarke in goal.
Half-time | West Bromwich 1-3 Wolves
The second half started quietly as both teams came out with a different game plan compared to the first. West Brom tried to get into the game a bit more but they struggled to break down a strong Wolves defence.
Toussaint received the ball on the wing before she played a whipped cross into Tammi George who managed to get her head onto the ball, but the goalkeeper made the save to give her side hope.
The Baggies continued to try and find their feet, but they just couldn’t find the final ball required to get them the goal they craved. Indeed, it was the old gold once again who came closest to a goal as Merrick drove the ball into the West Brom box before she attempted to find the bottom corner with a bending shot.
Wolves looked destined to score a fourth, but West Brom defended well as they threw themselves in front of every ball that was played into their box. The Baggies managed to find the break they needed and looked like they were going to narrow the old gold’s lead to only one, but the attempt at placing the ball at Shan Turner’s near post led to the ball going just wide of said near post, as Wolves comfortably saw out the game to move to within three points of leaders Nottingham Forest.
Full-time | West Brom 1-3 Wolves
A special night 😍 pic.twitter.com/6GElcTVUIN
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) March 17, 2023
NEXT FIVE
- 19/03/2023 West Brom (A) Birmingham County Cup
- 26/03/2023 Burnley (A) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
- 02/04/2023 Huddersfield Town (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
- 09/04/2023 Liverpool Feds (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
- 16/04/2023 Derby County (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
TEAMS
West Brom | Clarke, George, Loydon (Embley 79), Green, Cole, Crackle (Mahmood 46), Tudor (Pugh 79), Stamps (Bennett-Steele 69), Davies, Timms, Evans.
Wolves | Turner, Cooper (Dicken 79), Morphet, Price (Elsmore 88), E. Cross, George (Smith 88), J. Cross (Miller 79), Holmes (Dermody 59), Toussaint, Roberts, Merrick.
Report by Callum Brannan
