JUST NOW: Norwich City Women boss delighted by ‘ruthless’ display – Details
Norwich City Women boss Andy Cook hailed his side’s ruthlessness after they continued their perfect start to 2025 with a 4-0 win over Dulwich Hamlet.
The Canaries’ hopes of promotion to the third tier looked bleak following some poor results in the autumn, but they have collected maximum points from their three league games since the turn of the year to keep their season alive.
Winger Holly Kennard netted a brace in Sunday’s victory, while Hope Strauss and club captain Megan Todd also chipped in with goals.
“It was a really good performance,” Cook said. “From Quants (Sarah Quantrill) right the way through to Tash (Snelling), and then all five of the girls that came on were superb. There were some really good individual performances.
“In the second half of the season you have to be ruthless, and you have to make sure you’re consistent in the moment and present in everything that you’re doing. I think that was key today, because we were excellent.
“When we played Dulwich at the start of the season, they were a complete unknown and were riding
the wave from the promotions they’ve had, and we had to battle against them.
“Whereas here, we had a little bit more knowledge on the opposition and we had something to
build on from the previous three games.” City will now look to carry their momentum into their
next two matches against promotion rivals Real Bedford and Chatham Town, though Cook has
been downplaying the significance of the upcoming fortnight. He said: “We haven’t played
Chatham yet, and both of those teams have got a lot of fixtures against teams that are very good.
I mean, the scoreline today was four-nil but Dulwich are a very good footballing side.
“And not just them, because (London) Seaward caused us problems, and there were a
few moments against Ashford (Town) where we had to tighten things up to avoid being caught out.
“We need to try to improve this week in order to produce an even better performance against Real Bedford.
It’s our biggest fixture now because it’s literally next week, but not for any other particular reason.
” Teenage duo Eloise Morran and Sienna Booty formed City’s central-midfield pairing for
the second league game running against Dulwich and once again earned praise from their head coach.
“I think their combined age matches my age, or it’s close enough to it,” Cook admitted.
“Sienna’s been working hard in training, the girls always mention how good she’s been.
I nicknamed her (Andrea) Pirlo in a few sessions and she didn’t have a clue who Pirlo was.
“She’s really taken her chances. She’s got a lot to learn and a lot to improve on, it’s still her first few months in senior football. It’s just those little bits of physicality, second balls, the positioning, when she can drive, when she can pass.
“If she can improve on the performances she’s putting in now, she’s going to be a fantastic player. Since the turn of the year, those two have been great for us.”
Another young player who has stood out for City of late is Olivia Cook, with the attacker relishing the game time she has been rewarded with.
She said: “I’m so happy with the performances and hearing back from the fans that they’re seeing me progress and seeing me gain my confidence back and play well is amazing. I just love being out on the pitch.
“You learn from a lot of the more experienced players in the club, and when you’re sitting on the bench or when you’re not playing, you watch the game and gain knowledge on how you play.
“And then in training, I’ve just been pushing and pushing, talking to Andy and asking what more I can do, analysing games to see where I can improve, and I think that’s shown a lot over the last few weeks.”
Norwich City (4-2-3-1): Quantrill (c); Daviss, Flye, Strauss, Tomlinson; Booty (Medd-Gill 84), Morran; Cook (Hailes 85), Symonds (Todd 76), Kennard (Moore 76); Snelling (Shaw 73).
Leave a Reply