Wolves Women 7-2 Doncaster Rovers Belles – Match Report

Published wolves.co.uk report

Five second-half goals sent Wolves on their way to a fourth consecutive victory at Castlecroft.

Braces from Alice Keitley and Jamila Palmer and solo efforts from Jade Cross, Lyndsey Glover and Lowri Walker ensured the girls went two points clear at the top of the table.

It was a ferocious opening to the affair with four goals shared between the two sides after 20 minutes.

Emily Burgin notched for the visitors early on with a shot fired across Elbro, however Palmer was on-target for the home side just two minutes later to level the scores, finishing off a well-worked move by sweeping her finish home on the volley from a cross down the right.

Glover’s corner bizarrely went directly into Doncaster’s goal to originally give Wolves a lead on the quarter of an hour mark, before the away side produced an instant response of their own as Nadia Khan bundled in a corner to make it 2-2 with 17 minutes on the clock.

Wolves turned on the style in the second period and scored right after half-time to get things rolling.

Walker, fresh from her substitute brace last week, set the tone for the second-half with a fine finish past Johnston in the opening minute of the half to restore Wolves’ advantage.

Keitley’s first of the afternoon came following two fantastic saves from Doncaster’s goalkeeper to deny Walker, however the winger mopped up to give Wolves a two-goal advantage.

It was soon five for Wolves and the pick of the bunch from Cross, who lobbed the goalkeeper with a stunning effort from range.

Keitley netted her brace when she was played in down the right before slotting her finish across Johnston for six, before Palmer got her second also with a fine solo goal to wrap up a fourth consecutive victory for Wolves Women

Manager Dan McNamara was pleased with his side’s response following a tricky first-half.

He said: “I thought it was very much a game of two halves today. I thought first-half we were poor to be honest, in possession and out of it, I just thought it was a poor performance. We allowed Doncaster to get into the game and credit to them they took their two chances.

“We spoke at half-time and we all agreed that it wasn’t good enough.

“Second-half it was a lot better, I thought we were excellent for the whole 45 minutes. We created a lot of chances and could potentially have scored a few more., but I was really pleased with the response from the girls.

“I thought the goal after half-time set the tone. It was really important as I told the girls the tempo I wanted to play at and to come out all guns blazing, so the goal set the tone and then we cracked on from there.”

On next weekend’s exciting FA Cup fixture, he added: “It’s a competition we all love to be involved in so it’s important we turn up and do the job. We want to go as deep as we can in all competitions this season. It will be a proud day for myself to lead the girls out an FA Cup weekend.”

 

Bedworth United Ladies 0-8 Wolves Women – Match Report

Published wolves.co.uk report

Jade Cross continued her free-scoring form as she netted four past Bedworth in an 8-0 victory for Wolves Women.

Courtney Jones, Alice Keitley and Lowri Walker were also on-target as Wolves secured their third consecutive victory.

The hosts were unable to sustain Dan McNamara’s side for long following early missed chances from J. Cross and Jamilla Palmer, and it was a bullet free-kick from Courtney Jones that broke the deadlock on 18 minutes.

Alice Keitley has developed a strong partnership with J. Cross in recent weeks, and they combined twice before the interval to give Wolves a comfortable score line going into the break.

Kietley the provider on both occasions; Wolves were in command at the interval.

J. Cross netted her hat-trick on the hour mark and her thirteenth goal of the season, firing home from close range following Glover’s assist.

Keitley got the goal her performance deserved shortly after, capitalising on a defensive mishap before finishing into the unguarded Bedworth net.

Substitute Lowri Walker made a fine impression, scoring twice either side of J. Cross’ fourth of the afternoon.

It was the striker who set-up Walker for her first before firing past Quinn from close-range, and the visitors had time for more in stoppage-time.

A super pass from Jennifer Anslow set J. Cross in on goal as she poked the ball round the keeper for her fourth, then Walker fired an unstoppable rocket into the top corner to pleasantly seal the rout

Manager Dan McNamara praised the girls post-match, as he commented on his side’s “outstanding performance”.

He said: “I thought we were outstanding. From the first whistle, I thought Bedworth played into our hands pressing high and we made them punish through beating that press and being effective in the final third.

“After 20 minutes I was a little frustrated, we created a number of great opportunities to take the game away from Bedworth early on, but they held in there and their goalkeeper made some great saves.

“We had to work hard for the break-through but once it came it was one-way traffic. We dominated large parts of the game and I thought the girls were great.”

Captain Anna Price exclaimed her delight with today’s clean sheet and the recent improvement in defensive performances.

She added: “I think defensively we made a great effort today to keep it nice and tight and worked hard for each other to keep the clean sheet.

“With the addition of scoring eight goals, you can’t ask for more really.”

 

Wolves Women 8-0 Leicester United

Link to published wolves.co.uk report

Hat-tricks from Jade Cross and Alice Keitley and solo efforts from Lyndsey Glover and Sophie Bramford saw Wolves breeze past the former league leaders Leicester United at Castlecroft.

The hosts started brightly and a lucrative 10-minute spell for Dan McNamara’s side saw them three goals ahead at the break.

Glover broke the deadlock inside 12 minutes as she steered the ball past the goalkeeper following Cross’ lay-off, just the reward for Wolves’ positive start.

Just a minute later, the home side doubled their advantage as Cross got on the end of a defence splitting pass and finished confidently past United keeper Hannah.

It wasn’t long before Cross bagged her second. Some fine movement outside the penalty area as she jinxed her way past the opposition defender and slotted her effort convincingly into the far corner.

It was more of the same from Wolves in the second period who extended their convincing advantage.

Keitley notched two in two minutes early in the half, her first came from following home after Cross’ close-range effort was saved before smashing the ball past Hannah when played through on goal to get her second shortly after.

Substitute Sophie Bramford made a fine impression, producing a superb strike from long-range into the bottom-right corner for Wolves’ sixth of the encounter.

The final 10 minutes saw the two girls on their braces both seal their hat-trick; first Cross who rounded the goalkeeper before completing the simple task of slotting the ball home, then Keitley who cut inside onto her right foot before lashing her shot into the top-right corner.

Jamilla Palmer had an opportunity to get on the scoresheet from the penalty spot in stoppage time, however a stunning save from Hannah denied her from notching Wolves’ ninth.

Manager Dan McNamara was delighted with the response from his side following the disappointing defeat to TNS in mid-week.

He said: “It was a big game for the girls today. We were obviously massively disappointed with the result in mid-week and it wasn’t just the result, it was the attitude of the girls we were a little disappointed with.

“We asked them for a response, and it doesn’t come much better than a clean sheet and eight fantastic goals so I’m really proud of them today.

“I’m really not interested in what other people are doing at the minute. We just have to keep focused on ourselves and today we set the benchmark, so we have to kick on from here.

“We were excellent in all areas of the field, dominated the game so we’ll be calling on this one to motivate the girls going forward.

“The best teams coach themselves to be hard to break down and hard to score past so to concede six in the opening three games was a massive disappointment for myself.

“I reminded them at half-time that the chances will always come so don’t worry too much about adding further goals, however I want us to be solid and defend for our lives to preserve the clean sheet. We were very rarely troubled today so that’s credit to the girls for an outstanding work-rate.”

 

Wolves Women 3-1 Lincoln City Women – Match Report

Published wolves.co.uk Report

A brace from Lois Jeffries and a debut goal for Jamila Palmer was enough to overcome Lincoln’s positive start as Wolves began the season with a well-deserved victory.

The hosts got off to a tricky opening as Jeorgia Carr headed home from a corner inside five minutes, finding space at the back post and thumping her effort past the helpless Becky Thomas to get Wolves off to the worst possible start.

The response from the home side was one which would greatly please manager Dan McNamara however, Wolves settled well and began to find openings, Andrea Barnett came close on two occasions before Lois Jefferies eventually drew Wolves level.

Debutant Lyndsey Glover picked out Jefferies superbly and the latter fired home past Halloran to get the hosts a well-deserved equaliser.

Wolves continued their pressure as the first-half progressed and took the lead through a debut goal from Jamila Palmer, finishing well following a well-worked Wolves set piece.

McNamara’s side asserted their control of the game in the second half and boosted their advantage on the hour mark.

Another wicked delivery from Glover picked out the unmarked Jefferies at the back post who grabbed her second of the afternoon.

Wolves saw out the game well and could have added to their lead, however they were forced to settle for three as they started their season in positive fashion.

Manager Dan McNamara was upbeat with his side’s response after going behind early and remains positive for the season ahead.

He said: “I thought we were a little slow for ten minutes and Lincoln punished us.

“I thought the response was excellent, we worked our way into the game and the last 20 minutes of the first half was excellent.

“We took that form into the second half and I was I disappointed we didn’t score more to be fair.

“The five girls we gave debuts to I thought were all excellent today.

“Lyndsey Glover was outstanding, probably my man of the match. The two centre forwards scored which was great, that’s why we signed them.

“We’ll take each game as it comes this season and approach each match with the same attitude, we won’t get ahead of ourselves for sure.”

Debutant Jamila Palmer was delighted to get off the mark on her Wolves debut as she aims high for the upcoming season.

She added: “I’m happy to get my first goal. From an individual perspective, I want to reach double figures this season but as a team we want to try and win every game as we seek promotion.

“It’s a good start but we’ll take it game by game.”