Dan Sheehan | The players deserved more

Swansea City Women assistant coach Dan Sheehan believes his side were unfortunate not to take something from their performance in the 2-1 south Wales derby defeat to Cardiff City.

The Swans were dominant for large periods of the contest in what proved to be a fiery derby encounter, and had plenty of first-half opportunities to open the scoring.

Swansea would be rewarded for their pressure shortly before the break when captain Jess Williams opened the scoring seven minutes before the break.

However, Cardiff turned the game on its head early in the second half as forward Mikayla Cook struck twice in the space of four second-half minutes.

Sheehan’s side continued to push in search of an equaliser, but were unable to convert their chances as the Swans suffered their first defeat since a 6-0 loss to the same opponents back in December.

Despite the result, Sheehan felt his team produced an excellent performance and believes his side must now look to turn such displays against the league’s top teams into results, while maintaining the togetherness that has been a key part of their season.

“On the balance of the day, I thought we were excellent throughout the game. Unfortunately, we had a five or ten-minute spell that ended up costing us the match, which is frustrating because anyone who watched could see we created a lot of opportunities but just didn’t get that vital touch,” he said.

“The players followed the game plan excellently and we played some really good football which was a delight to watch. 

“In the first half it was clear that we were a little more dominant than them. The second half was probably more in the balance, but we just didn’t quite do enough to get over the line.

“For me, though, I can’t fault the effort of the players both in and out of possession – we were superb on both fronts. I feel sorry for them because it wasn’t what they deserved, but that’s football.

“Cardiff knew they were in a battle today. As a squad we have nothing to fear from any other team in this league. In my eyes we are as good as anyone, but we have to start proving that with our results and getting those outcomes so everyone else can see it too.

“We play Cardiff again next Sunday and the most important thing for us now is to stick together as a group and stay on the same page. That’s something we’ve done all season and we need to keep building on that.”