Sheffield Wednesday Ladies run rampant in mudfest rout as star bags hattrick

Coming off the back of a resounding victory against Kiveton Park in the SHWGL Cup quarter-finals, Wednesday Ladies placed themselves in good stead to hopefully claim three more points on the road against Brinsworth. However it wasn’t to be an easy task with harsh conditions that resembled a battlefield awaiting Kieron Lee’s squad - not ideal for a side accustomed to playing week in and week out on a 3G pitch.

The football was never going to be pretty; Wednesday just had to show grit, determination and hardwork in winning every ball... With this in mind, Lee named three changes to the side that beat Kiveton last weekend, with Heidi O’Reilly notably dropping to the bench, as Rachel Norsworthy, Sadie Hooper and Caitlin Walker stepping into the fray. With the latter coming in it gave Imogen Yeardley a chance to play in a further forward midfield role.

Lee also named his two new signings, Olivia Mellor and Romy Lee, in the squad for the first time, with the hope of introducing them if Wednesday were to find themselves in a comfortable position later in the game.

Playing Yeardley with more freedom in the centre of the park quickly proved to be a stroke of genius as Wednesday managed to take the lead courtesy of a fantastic strike from her... She was found with space on the edge of the 18-yard box, and struck a ferocious finish into the goalkeeper's top right corner, giving the stopped no chance of keeping it out.

Minutes later Wednesday doubled their lead through Amy Broomhead, who made no mistake when played in on goal and slotted it low and past the keeper to double the away side's lead.

The game had only hit the 10-minute mark, but the Owlesses had already won the mentality battle. Brinsworth, on the other hand, were struggling to make a single dent in the solid defence consisting of usual full-backs Aleks Fox and Maisie Gilligan, with Lucy Poskitt and Walker at the heart of the back line. 

The harsh weather conditions plummeted the morale of the home side and they just couldn’t compete with the riled up Wednesday side. Norsworthy was also causing serious trouble on the right-side, teeing up Broomhead and Co. countless times with some brilliant crossing.

And it wasn't long until the third goal for Wednesday came - just minutes after its predecessor Broomhead bundled in the ball from a set piece, and Wednesday saw the game into the interval ahead by three goals and safely in charge.

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Owlesses keeper, Kirsty Tonner, had been fighting her own battle to stay warm in that half having barely faced a shot, but that was credit to the back-line, especially Walker and Fox who were clearly unfazed by the conditions and showed serious mentality levels to be first to every ball in the opening stanza.

With Lee’s side in cruise control he opted to make several changes after what had been a blinding first 45 from his players. All four of the subs came on, including both Mellor - who took a spot up top alongside Broomhead - and Lee, who slotted in at centre-half in place of Poskitt. Loz Millington was also introduced, alongside O’Reilly, who took headed onto the left side of the field.

Like the first half, Wednesday started in fine fashion. Renée Simmonite-Scott, playing slightly further forward, struck an inch-perfect shot past Brinsworth’s keeper, furthering the deficit and the misery on the home side. 4-0, and game over for the hosts.

Wednesday weren't done, though. and it only took 10-minutes to witness debut delight for Mellor, who got on the scoresheet with an exquisite finish past the helpless shot-stopper. The attacker, in her second spell at the club, had been without regular minutes for Sheffield United Community Foundation, but she was straight out of the blocks and any match fatigue was non-existent from her. 

Both debutants in fact made positive impressions in their opening game, with Lee looking calm and composed at the back whilst Walker continued to put in the dirty work brilliantly... Conditions worsened and the pitch became more unplayable, but that by no means faltered the onslaught from Lee’s side, and Broomhead wasn't to be denied her hat-trick. She made it 6-0, taking her league tally to a staggering 25 goals in 16 games.

If that wasn’t enough, holding-midfielder Yeardley took her side to seventh heaven with yet another fantastic goal from outside the box. It was almost a carbon-copy of her goal which had opened the scoring earlier in the day, and also opened her account for the season.

Wednesday had run rampant and came out of the mud bath of a pitch as 7-0 victors, furthering their pressure on Brunsmeer and Kiveton at the top of the tree, however both of those managed to get results in their respective games.

Lee's side will have a break this coming weekend, but will be back in action on the 24th as they welcome Rossington Main to the Jubilee.