Dan McNamara admitted his side ‘deserved to go out’ of the Birmingham Challenge Cup after defeat in the quarter-final to West Brom Women.
The tie went to penalties after goals from Phoebe Warner and Charlotte Greengrass left the game level after 90 minutes. The hosts prevailed 4-2 in the shootout and that saw Wolves exit the Challenge Cup. McNamara expressed his disappointment with his side’s performance, as well as reflecting on a ‘remarkable’ 2024.
On the test
“It’s disappointing, but congratulations to their group. I always say you get what you deserve in football and today we deserved to go out. It was a far cry from what we saw at the Hawthorns. They play this place very well, it’s not a nice place to come.
“It’s not a nice pitch to play on and they play it really well so no complaints from me. I thought they were the better team across the 90 minutes.
“All great runs come to an end. It was 11 and they’ve beaten us on the 12th, I can safely say they won’t match that, and we’ll be back in March to start a new run against West Brom again.”
On missed chances
“There were chances today, but there were also chances down the other end as well. As I said you always get what you deserve in football, I said it at the start, and I’ll say it again.
“We didn’t deserve to go through, we didn’t play well, we didn’t show enough courage on the ball, enough bravery in possession.
“You could tell they wanted to win, they would do anything to win today. They won first balls, second balls and I thought Seren Watkins was the best player on the pitch – their number eight.
“We have got to bounce back from it now, it’s tough, it’s not nice but it’s all well and good when we win every week but it’s now how we respond.
“We’re still in two competitions going into the new year. The County Cup has created some special moments over the years, and we wanted it back this year but that’s not to be.
“Best of luck to West Brom, I’m sure it will be either one of them or Rugby Borough that go on to lift the trophy.”
On 2024
“It’s been a remarkable year. I said to the girls if you take the game aside, we’ve had such a fantastic year, it’s had its ups and downs, we didn’t start this season off the best but for the girls to be where they are is a credit to them.
“2024 will definitely hold a big place in my heart when it comes to football. If you look back to the FA Cup run, the Reading game, the Brighton game, competing in a really difficult league last year but we need to be winning trophies - that’s what’s disappointing about today. This group needs to be winning trophies and I feel like we’ve thrown two opportunities away this season.
“That’s the most disappointing part but like I said you get what you deserve, and it wasn’t to be, but a fantastic year and we’ll certainly look to work hard for the last few days before we break for Christmas and to make sure this is behind us going into January and hopefully start a bright 2025.”
By Callum Greybanks
