It was a hard fought draw for baggies manager Hodgetts on mother’s day against Burnley in the FA Women’s National League North. West Brom started off the better side with Phoebe Warner bagging a goal in the first 15 minutes with a poor touch from the Burnley defender allowing for Warner to sneak in and poke the ball into the back of the net.
“I think the first 15 minutes we started really well we got the early goal, I think what comes with the early goal is the pressure.”
WARNERRR!!! pic.twitter.com/45MJWhnz1c
— West Bromwich Albion Women (@WBAWomen) March 10, 2024
Unfortunately for the baggies it was non stop pressure after they scored with Jonathan Morgan’s side relentlessly trying to unlock the West Brom defence but no luck by the end of the first half.
“I thought there was a spell in the first half, probably 15-35 minutes where Burnley did dominate large parts, we kind of got little messages onto the players about the shape and I think the last 10 of the first half we did settle.”
Burnley continued to put the pressure on in the second half and to give them their flowers they were able to get themselves an equaliser in the 58th minute with Leah Embley bursting into the box cutting the ball back into Kelly who scored an audacious flick that any mother would be proud of.
Proper cheeky that, @aimeekelly2001 🤪
— Burnley FC Women (@BurnleyFCWomen) March 11, 2024
(Footage kindly courtesy of @WBAWomen) pic.twitter.com/JUTcEkxOQs
From then, West Brom struggled to really have any foot in the game constantly being under immense amounts of pressure and it felt like a second for Burnley was inevitable.
“I thought they defended excellently like you said, Burnley did dominate the second half we had spells little snippets but for me we defended brilliantly and we got the point, the point I thought we deserved overall.”
It wasn’t really until baggies top scorer Mariam Mahmood got brought on that they looked to score again with their sparse chances but neither team were able to find the back of the net and both teams finished with a single point.
“So hopefully the players take some confidence from today and take them into the next few games and for me it’s how highly can we finish?”
For Burnley’s Women’s they will be disappointed with a point as they look to catch up Nottingham Forest Women’s who sit just ahead of them in second on 34 points, now four points ahead of Burnley.
Whereas for West Brom they remain in 8th place, 11 points ahead of relegation candidates Huddersfield Town.
West Brom Women’s play 10th placed Stourbridge at home at The Paycare Stadium on the 14th of March.
