Sheffield Wednesday Ladies’ County Cup run came to end at the weekend following a 5-3 defeat away to Wakefield AFC’s Reserves.

The Owls received a bye in the last round after Hall Green United’s withdrawal from the competition, but the visitors would go no further despite goals from Brooke Swann and Heidi O’Reilly.

Despite having a squad of 16 the day before the game, a series of unforeseen circumstances left Mick Bigley’s side with just 11 players come kick off, and that number included three goalkeepers.

That meant Cara Doyle and Courtney Tingle were pushed into emergency outfield duty, though both acquitted themselves admirably on a cold and wet afternoon in West Yorkshire.

SWLFC shipped three early goals, a brace from Emily Walker and one from Nicole Moffatt, that left the visitors fearing the worst after 20 minutes. Faced with the prospect of folding to a sizable defeat, the Owls instead regained their composure, regrouped, and came back at Wakefield in a bid to get back into the game.

Brooke Swann tucked away a penalty for her first goal since ending a lengthy injury lay off, before adding a second shortly after to get the visitors right back into things.

It couldn’t last, unfortunately, as the Owls began to tire in the second half, and with no subs on the bench, Wednesday faded to late goals from Amelia Bloomer and Ellie Twigg.

There was still time before the final whistle for some more good news, with another recent injury returnee, Heidi O’Reilly, bagging her first goal after 14 months out with a serious knee injury.

Speaking after the match, interim manager Mick Bigley said: “Playing with just the 11, including three keepers and a few players we wanted to give limited minutes to playing the full 90, in the cold, freezing rain, I’ve got nothing but praise for this side.

“We played as a team, we didn’t buckle after the early goals, and in the end it was still an awesome team performance.”

2022 is now over for all our teams, junior and senior, after no games were able to take place on Saturday across the younger age groups.

We wish all our fans and followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we look forward to seeing you once again in 2023!

For more information on this story, please contact Dave Higgins, chairman@swlfc.co.uk

Main image credit - Steve Biltcliffe.

More images from the game are available here: https://www.stevebiltcliffephotography.com/wakefield-afc-women-matchday and images can be purchased as required.