Report | Swansea City Women 2 Wrexham Women 1
Second-half goals from Ellie Lake and captain Katy Hosford saw Swansea City Women mark their return to the Swansea.com Stadium with victory over Wrexham in front of a record crowd.
The 3,859 in attendance was nearly treble Swansea City’s previous record attendance at a women’s team home game, and they were treated to a fine spectacle under the lights in SA1.
The hosts had trailed at the interval to a Carra Jones goal, despite dominating the contest.
But they got their rewards after the break with Lake’s low strike from distance levelling matters, before Hosford prodded home what proved to be the winner.
It means the Swans remain unbeaten when playing at the Swansea.com Stadium and now have five wins from their last six games in all competitions.
This was also a fine way to celebrate the team’s move to semi-professional status over the summer, and their display in front of so many young supporters will surely serve as inspiration to budding future players.
They had taken control from the off, starting smartly, working space for Stacey John-Davis down the right with skipper Hosford nodding wide at the back post.
Robyn Pinder then produced a lovely turn to beat her mark on the byline, but her final pass was cut out.
Lucy Finch then came so close to setting up Pinder for the opener, but the forward could not bring the cross under control.
It was all Swansea, and the chances kept coming. Pinder’s header down for John-Davis saw the striker have two efforts blocked, before Hosford had an effort palmed over by Wrexham keeper Delyth Morgan.
However, it was the visitors who took the lead with 12 minutes played.
The Swans conceded possession on the edge of their own box and, while keeper Claire Skinner was able to parry Amber Lightfoot’s initial effort, Jones followed in at the far post to tap home the rebound.
The hosts nearly responded immediately, John-Davis showing tremendous poise to bring down a raking Chloe Chivers pass and fire a stinging shot that Morgan parried away.
Lili Jones’ speculative effort from distance found the side-netting for Wrexham, while Morgan held a Nieve Jenkins’ strike that looped up into the air thanks to a mishit from the Swansea midfielder.
Morgan palmed away a shot from Pinder on the turn, before Hosford was unable to scramble home a loose ball after being unable to make a clean contact with her first-time effort.
The Swans could count themselves very unfortunate to be behind at the interval and they were straight back on the front foot at the start of the second half with Hosford having a low shot blocked.
The skipper then fired narrowly over from distance as Swansea continued to pepper the Wrexham goal, while John-Davis skied an effort when through on goal.
But the leveller arrived in the 55th minute when Lake drove forward and took aim with her left foot and sent a low shot beyond the grasp of Morgan and into the bottom corner of the net.
Swansea thought they had taken the lead just two minutes later. Chivers saw her effort pushed onto the post and Pinder tapped in the follow-up, only for the assistant referee’s flag to cut short the celebrations.
But they did lead in the 66th minute when Hosford took advantage of a defensive lapse to loft the ball over the advancing keeper and into the net after getting the better of a covering defender.
Finch nearly added a third but steered her effort from a Hosford cross agonisingly wide of the post, but it did not matter in the final analysis.
Swansea City Women: Claire Skinner, Alicia Powe, Lucy Finch, Ellie Lake, Nieve Jenkins (Sammy Wynne 73), Robyn Pinder (Monet Legall 80), Chloe Chivers, Katy Hosford (captain), Stacey John-Davis (Emily Thomas 73), Sophie Brisland-Hancocks (Steph Turner 89), Jess Williams.
Unused Substitutes: Chelsea Herbert.
Wrexham Women: Delyth Morgan (captain), Phoebe Davies, Louisha Doran, Rebecca Pritchard, Tonicha Dickens, Amber Lightfoot, Carra Jones (Libby Mackenzie 89), Katie Sharp, Ava Suckley, Lili Jones (Lily Whitefoot 80), Mari Gibbard.
Unused Substitutes: Chloe Ankers, Natasha Spearing, Ruby Jones.
Referee: Ryan Kenny
Attendance: 3,859