Derby Women’s 2nd XI 0-12 Wolverhampton Women’s 1st XI: Hosts Humbled Against Higher Tier Opposition
Words by Jack Drury
Pictures by Emma Hartley
Derby Women’s 2nd XI crashed out of the Conference Cup after a 12-0 defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Women’s 1st XI.
Four goals from Steph Speck, a hat-trick for Brittany Cull, two for Hawn Walker and one each for Kyrie Brown, Sophie Levick and Kathy Dagan secured the result for the visitors, who showed their class, particularly in the first half.
Wolves, who are top of Midlands Division 2A, started strongly, however Derby gave a good defensive account of themselves for the opening 10 minutes, before Cull opened the scoring with a simple finish.
A defensive mix-up allowed Speck to blast past Emi Morales to double their lead before Walker’s cross sailed into the top corner to make it 3-0.
Speck doubled her tally after 16 minutes, finishing from close range as Wolves showed why they were two divisions above their opponents. Some intricate play allowed Wolves to score another four goals in quick succession.
Despite the deficit, the performance of captain Morales in the Derby goal should not go unrecognised, as she made a number of brilliant saves to deny the hungry Wolves attack throughout the game.
An attempted offside trap backfired twice in as many minutes for Derby meaning the sides went into half time with the score at 10-0.
A much improved second-half performance showed the character of the side. After 52 minutes, some good pressing from Poppy Bradley saw Derby go close but they were unable to get on the scoreboard.
The hosts began to defend much better in the second half, frustrating the Wolves attack who had been firing on all cylinders in the opening 45 minutes.
Just after the hour mark, the visitors refound their shooting boots as Levick was able to poke home for an 11th goal, before a speculative Dagan effort beat Morales with the last kick of the game.
In spite of the result, captain Morales believes the team can use the match as a learning curve: “I will be happy if we play like that against anyone in our league. As a team moving forwards I hope they take in everything we learnt today.”
Derby will look to bounce back on 5th December when they host Harper Adams, looking to build on their maiden league win.
