Hull 3 (Lynskey 5, Tanser 32, Knight 90+3) Wolves 3 (Toussaint 11, Jenner 75, own goal 76)
Wolves Women were dealt a stoppage-time blow against Hull City Ladies despite twice coming from behind to lead on Sunday afternoon.
Hull went into the break ahead thanks to two first-half strikes from Helen Lynskey and Tanser, with Destiney Toussaint initially equalising for Wolves six minutes after the opener.
Two goals in one minute from Abbi Jenner and an own goal saw Wolves lead with 15 minutes remaining thanks to a superb second-half comeback. However, it was heartbreak in stoppage-time when Hope Knight earnt the hosts a point in the 93rd minute.
Looking to continue their pursuit of glory in the intense title race, Wolves started on the backfoot when the hosts took the lead against the run of play just five minutes in.
Wolves failed to deal with a long free-kick launched into the penalty box, before Lynskey struck a volleyed effort over Bec Thomas to find the net and give her side an early lead.
It was Wolves in control after the goal and the pressure paid off when Toussaint netted the equaliser. Toussaint got the better of her marker down the right flank before delivering a cross-turned-shot into the box that looped over Abigail Wallace and into the net.
Dan McNamara would have been pleased with how his side responded to going a goal behind as they continued to dominate the contest, but struggled to fashion many clear opportunities thus far.
Chances did start to materialise for Wolves and they had two good opportunities to take the lead. First, Toussaint came close to scoring her second of the game when she met Beth Merrick’s smart delivery at the back post, but her controlled effort marginally cleared the crossbar.
Moments later, Merrick received the ball inside the penalty area and jinked past her marker before blazing over the crossbar from close-range with a good opportunity.
Despite the pressure from the away side, it was Hull who grabbed the third goal of the game. Following a rare Hull attack, Ellie Tanser met a ball on the edge of the area and struck low and hard to beat Thomas in the Wolves net.
The closest Wolves came to a second equaliser in the closing stages of the first half was an overhead kick from Racheal Quigley that narrowly missed the mark after some impressive improvisation from the Australian.
Half-time | Hull 2-1 Wolves
Frustration continued into the opening stages of the second half for Wolves. Their real first opening came through Quigley again, this time she tried to bend an effort into the far corner from the edge of the box, but she saw her effort sail over the crossbar.
Hull were looking more likely to score the fourth as Knight proved to be a problem for the Wolves defence throughout the afternoon. The Tigresses forward came close twice within a minute.
First, a mix up in the Wolves backline allowed Knight to wriggle free inside the penalty area, but Thomas did well to sniff out the danger. Just 30 seconds later, Knight received the ball advancing into the penalty box, but her shot from a tight angle could only find the side netting.
Wolves applied more pressure and were finding themselves in better positions to score by the 70th minute. Merrick fed Amber Hughes inside the box with a clever ball, before Hughes shot on the swivel, but her effort was blocked.
Five minutes later, the visitors found their second equaliser of the game. Morphet’s corner was cleared only as far as Jenner on the edge of the box, she volleyed an effort at goal and found the back of the net superbly.
Within a flash, Wolves had taken the lead when just a minute later the ball was in the Hull net for a third time in the afternoon. Charlotte Greengrass stabbed a loose ball goalwards, helped on by a touch from a Hull defender that took the ball over Wallace in net.
After a frustrating and hard-fought 75 minutes, Wolves had their first lead of the afternoon. However, the good fortunes failed to last when Becky Anderson received a 10-minute sin-bin in the 83rd minute, depleting the away side to 10 players for the best part of the rest of the game.
Knight was the hosts’ catalyst and nearly drew her side level with just under five minutes remaining. Arriving inside the penalty box again, she swung a left boot at the ball to send an effort crashing off the crossbar and over.
Wolves were hanging on with the player disadvantage but Hull continued to push, and got their equaliser right at the death. It was Knight again, running through the Wolves defence and slotting into the bottom right corner to make it six goals in the afternoon.
Knight’s efforts were enough to earn her side a point, with Wolves’ title hopes taking an unfortunate blow just seconds before the final whistle.
Full-time | Hull 3-3 Wolves
LINEUPS
Hull | Wallace, Hamill, Hero (Harness 68), Tanser, Tinson (Ackroyd 45), Hunt, Dawson, Gigg, Lynskey, Brierley, Knight.
Subs not used | Wattam, Green, Brookes, Cockerill, Caley.
Wolves | Thomas, Morphet, Simkin (Anderson 60), George, Hughes, Quigley (Greengrass 60), Johnson, Toussaint (Loydon 88), Roberts, Jenner (Smith 90+2), Merrick (J. Cross 88).
Subs not used | Elbro, MacPhail.
Report by Callum Greybanks
