Stoke 2 ( Wilcock 49, Ravening 64) Wolves 2 ( Hughes 12, 78)
Wolves Women earned a point away at Stoke City Women on Sunday afternoon thanks to an Amber Hughes brace, despite leading early in the game.
Dan McNamara named an unchanged starting 11 at the bet365 Stadium for the third consecutive game, as Wolves looked to make it five wins in six league games.
After back-to-back clean sheets including a tremendous defensive display away at Turf Moor, it ramped Wolves up to third in the table and just one point off Nottingham Forest at the summit.
Early exchanges saw Beth Merrick slide a ball across the face of goal but no teammate of hers could find the end of it. The hosts then provided the first shot on target of the game through Delphi Cole’s saved effort just minutes later.
However, it would take just 12 minutes for Hughes to score her sixth of the season which meant she has scored in all five league games she has appeared in so far this campaign.
A familiar partnership of Anna Morphet and Hughes led to the opener, as Morphet’s cross from the left-hand side met Hughes whose headed effort lobbed Elizabeth Hobson in the home net.
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) September 22, 2024
The hosts went close in the 27th minute when a wide free-kick met the head of Olivia Cook who headed goalwards and Bec Thomas parried into a goalmouth scramble before heroic blocks from the Wolves defenders led to a clearance.
Scrappy spells would follow as most of the first half play took place in the mid-section of the pitch and was broken up by fouls and set-pieces.
The first-half sauntered to a close but Wolves went into the break with the deserved lead.
Half-time | Stoke 0-1 Wolves
The hosts hit back with an early second half equaliser in the 49th minute through Tamara Wilcock, as she headed into the bottom left corner following a delivery from a wide free-kick.
Wolves responded well but struggled to fashion clear-cut chances, despite half chances from Charlotte Greengrass and Hughes going close.
After pressure from the away side, it was Stoke who would take their first lead of the game in the 64th minute after Millie Ravening’s strike from distance found the top right corner leaving Thomas with no chance in the away net.
As the final 20 minutes approached, Wolves continued to look for an equaliser before Hughes fired a long-range effort towards goal and forced Hobson to palm away at full stretch for a corner.
Hughes, however, went one further in the 78th minute when she equalised for Wolves and got her second of the game, as she was played through inside the penalty area by substitute Ania Denham and from an acute angle, lifted the ball over Hobson.
The Old Gold carried the momentum into the final exchanges and went close to finding a third, as good work from Hughes down the right flank saw her cut a cross back for an onrushing Beth Roberts but her effort was shot wide.
Becky Anderson would go closest to winning the game as a clearance from a corner fell to the midfielder on the edge of the box who struck perfectly towards goal but Hobson managed to turn the ball round for a corner with a sensational stop.
In the end, Wolves picked up a point on the road and made it three games unbeaten ahead of Wednesday’s midweek trip to Sporting Khalsa.
Full-time | Stoke 2–2 Wolves
LINE UPS
Stoke | Hobson, Molinari, Cook, Holder, Watson, Cole (Priestley 62), Kivel, Wilcock, Stamps, Ravening, Reavill (Suttie 46).
Subs not used | Higginbottom, Tudor, Lloyd, Hourihan.
Wolves | Thomas, Morphet, George, Hughes, Greengrass ( J. Cross 72), Johnson, Anderson, Toussaint (Denham 72), Roberts, Jenner, Merrick (Loydon 90).
Subs not used | Clarke, E. Cross, Banaras, Fryer.
Report by Callum Greybanks
