Cheltenham Town 2 (Collis 14, Owen 20) Wolves 1 (Morphet 22)
Wolves Women exited the FAWNL Plate after defeat away to Cheltenham Town Women on Sunday afternoon.
Wolves failed to reach the quarter-final stages of the Plate with a loss that marked an end to an impressive seven-game unbeaten run.
Dan McNamara made six changes to his side that ran rampant away in the victory at The Hawthorns last time out, with changes stretching from in goal to attack.
The contest started slowly, and Wolves were restricted to trying their luck from range, as both Ania Denham and Amber Hughes narrowly cleared the crossbar from outside the penalty area within the first 10 minutes.
However, it was the hosts who struck first in the 14th minute as a cleared ball from the Wolves defence was met by an onrushing Maisy Collis on the edge of the penalty area, who struck into the top right corner leaving Charlotte Clarke with no chance.
Cheltenham supported their opening goal with more pressure that was cashed in for a second after a goalmouth scramble was turned home by Emily Owen following a corner.
Wolves were left stunned after going two behind, but that failed to stop Anna Morphet scoring her 50th goal for the club just two minutes later, as the captain stepped up for a free-kick just 20 yards out and neatly found the bottom left corner.
Anna Morphet's 50th goal in old gold đź’› pic.twitter.com/3JFotsAyCG
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) October 20, 2024
The visitors responded well to going behind and had a great chance to equalise in the 26th minute. Beth Roberts exploited space down the left flank and her cross was met by Denham in the six-yard box, but her low effort was kept out by Carys Pugh-Jones.
After an entertaining first 25 minutes, Wolves continued to apply more pressure as the half progressed but neither side could add to the scoresheet.
Half-time | Cheltenham 2-1 Wolves
Cheltenham came out the break stronger and nearly added a third as Lacy-Jai Liggett found room on the right side of the penalty area and shot across goal to the bottom right corner, but a low hand from Clarke kept the home side’s score at two.
Frustrations grew throughout the game as nothing seemed to drop for Wolves. Their first pattern of good play in the second half came from Becky Anderson’s neat flick over the top of Cheltenham’s defence but Morphet, striding into the left side of the penalty box, failed to control the pass.
It reached the hour mark and the tempo increased again; the hosts pushed for a third while the visitors continued to dominate the ball, but struggled to create any clear-cut chances.
Wolves had several goalmouth scrambles and set-pieces across the six-yard box defensively unanswered towards the final stages of the game, however nothing would fall for the away side in an afternoon that proved difficult.
Substitute Beth Merrick stepped up for a free-kick in the 90th minute but her effort failed to replicate Morphet’s first-half strike; a set-piece also went close to finding the net but again it was left unmet by a Wolves player.
The defeat knocked Wolves out of the FAWNL Plate but their attention will focus back to league action next Sunday afternoon as they host Halifax at the SEAH Stadium.
Full-time | Cheltenham 2-1 Wolves
LINE UPS
Cheltenham | Pugh-Jones, Hateley, Collis, Liggett, Attenborough (Leach 85), Bell (Trinci 67), Llewellyn, Welltsley-Davis, Owen, Greenwood, Lue (Butcher 75).
Subs not used | Smith, Finch, Pengelly, Hale.
Wolves | Clarke, Morphet, J. Cross (Toussaint 60), Loydon (Merrick 60), Hughes, Banaras (Hiscox 70), Fryer (Johnson 75), Anderson, Denham (Greengrass 60), Roberts, Jenner.
Subs not used | Thomas, E. Cross.
NEXT FIVE
27/10/2024 Halifax (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
03/11/2024 Asfordby (A) Adobe Women’s FA Cup
10/11/2024 Liverpool Feds (A) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
17/11/2024 Stourbridge (A) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
15/12/2024 Derby (H) FAWNL Northern Premier Division
Report by Callum Greybanks
