The women’s team is hosting Swansea City in the Adran Premier League, which I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It has taken on additional significance since last weekend’s result. This is no longer just an opportunity to demonstrate our improvement; it is a game in which we must win to avoid falling behind the top two.
This is not how things were supposed to be. I can’t tell you how excited I was after the first game of the season. We may have lost to Cardiff City, but it was an outstanding performance against the champions. I’d say that was our greatest performance since being promoted to the Ardal Premier.
As I packed my equipment in the press box, I couldn’t wait to watch the team play again and receive a fair reward for their progress. Sunday’s game at The Racecourse felt like it came at the perfect time.
However, I had one concern: in the meanwhile, we had to play at Briton Ferry. That’s correct, the team we were fortunate to beat to gain promotion two seasons ago.
It was always going to be a difficult journey, and we underperformed. Having argued that the Cardiff game was a watershed moment, it is not unreasonable to suggest that we moved from our finest Adran Premier performance to our worst in seven days.
The game got away from us early on, and credit must go to Briton Ferry’s energy and organisation, as they pressed us wisely and forced a series of turnovers in our own half in the first 30 minutes.
Steve Dale is a wise coach, and he responded by changing formation and inserting Liv Fuller into the heart of midfield. She is a terrific ball passer, and she solved the challenges we encountered when playing out of the back. However, we were two goals down and playing catch-up by that point.
You never get anything less than 100% devotion from this Wrexham team, and they battled till the end, but for the second week in a row, they couldn’t find the winning edge.
So, why am I asking you to get to SToK Cae Rad and support this team?
First and foremost, Sunday’s setback was the result of a single terrible performance. The direction of travel is really encouraging. Since turning semi-professional, we’ve demonstrated constant development, and the first day of the season was no exception.
Last season’s last game was our first Welsh Cup last, which we lost 2-0 to Cardiff despite dominating the game. We’ve gone from diving deep against the big two and hoping to stay in the game to confronting them and going toe-to-toe. It’s been a fantastic experience, and I can promise you that you won’t want to miss out and join the bandwagon later.
Also, we owe Swansea one! Unlike Cardiff, we were far more competitive with The Swans last season. On the first day of the season, we appeared to have won the game, but they equalised in the fourth minute of additional time despite being down to 10 players.
We might have had a player advantage, but we were on our knees; the tremendous fitness training that made such a difference last season had obviously not set in by then.
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We were leading at their stadium in the second game, but lost 2-1, and we started phase 2 with another strong away performance, only to lose 3-2.
The cruelest blow came when we welcomed them to the SToK Cae Ras with three games remaining in the season. We’d just been thrashed by Cardiff but recovered magnificently, controlling the game.
However, Swansea had a nasty habit of scoring against the run of play, as excellent teams do! Dominating the game is fantastic, but you must follow up with goals. We ran the game for half an hour and only got Lili Jones’ scream.
Swansea aren’t going to pass up so many opportunities, and while their first goal was a penalty that seemed like a blow in the gut, they capitalized and led 10 minutes after the break.
Steve Dale did what he does when the game turns against us: he made clever modifications. They worked, and we built up a great momentum kicking towards the Kop. Carra Jones and Rosie Hughes teamed well for the latter to equalize with 10 minutes remaining (above), and it appeared that there would only be one winner.
I believe you know what comes next.
A cross from deep on the right went straight in, and Swansea won in the second minute of extra time!
This is beginning to seem like a heartbreaking story, but the truth is that this exhilarating side is just about to turn a corner. Don’t miss out on players making memories, such as Wrexham fan Jones scoring an incredible goal against Swansea last season.
The increased risk of having no points or goals is understandable, but supporting a team is all about staying with them so you can earn the good moments. That’s why I’m confident that if you go on Sunday, you won’t be disappointed, if only because you’ve discovered a new Wrexham team to follow!
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