Guest moved by the tenacity of the Walsall Women
Steve Guest, the manager of Walsall Women, is happy with how his team has grown more resilient this year.
With two victories in two games, the squad has had a solid start to its West Midlands Regional League Division One season.
On Sunday, September 17, they played against Coventry City. Phoebe Smith’s daring free kick from 45 yards out and Mia Fellows’ goal gave the Saddlers a comfortable lead at the half.
Coventry, the hosts, managed to get one back, but Walsall resisted and held onto their advantage to earn three points.
While admitting they had to endure some late pressure, Guest was thrilled with how the players controlled the game in the second half to guarantee they won.
Near the end, it got really tense, said Guest.
“Coventry is a solid team with a sound organizational system, and they came out in the second half to try to get back into the game and even win it, but the girls managed the game effectively.
“They took everything into consideration, cleared their lines as needed, and played as needed. We could have been five ahead at halftime in the first half, but it ended up being
“Phoebe’s first free kick was excellent, and Mia’s goal right before halftime placed us in a strong position.
We dug in deeply as they adjusted the shape and updated the situation. If that had occurred when we faced them during the previous season, I believe we would have lost, but the girls displayed strong resiliency and effective game management to help us win.
On Sunday, Rushall Olympic will play Port Vale Women at Dales Lane (2.30 p.m. kickoff) in another league match.
Vale has also had a perfect start to the season, and Guest anticipates that they will challenge at the top of the table and present his players with a hard task.
The future will be
They have acquired some respectable players from divisions above, and this season, like a good number of teams in our league, their goal is to gain promotion. Each player possesses their individual strengths and has strengthened their season-old flaws.
“If you take a look at Vale’s games thus far, they’ve won 5-2 against a team who defeated Darlaston 8-1 the week before, which shows they’ve added talent and will compete.
“I believe the game will be closely contested. We’ve acquired a few sicknesses and injuries, so we’ll assess those before the game, but hopefully we’ll go strong and attempt to grab three points as we normally do.
Sunday’s game will cost £2 for adults and £1 for concessions to enter. If they present their digital or physical season ticket card at the turnstiles upon arrival, Walsall FC season ticket holders are admitted free of charge.
