How am I going to do justice to the performances of Jenny Sugarman’s team? Their jaw-dropping feats are quantifiable by amazing scorelines and club records, of course, but in the course of trying to do justice to them, I hope I can express the sheer joy experienced when watching this superlative Wrexham side.

A female soccer player in a red jersey celebrating a goal with arms raised. Another player is in the background also celebrating. The field is green and well-maintained.

Big wins are wonderful, but it’s the sheer thrill of seeing club stalwarts like Phoebe Davies and Nat Clark scoring rare screamers last Sunday which really encapsulate The Rock experience.

A soccer match in progress showing players on the field; a player in a red jersey with the name 'Clark' is gesturing to the referee. Two opposing players in striped blue and white uniforms are nearby.

How well have we been doing lately? Consider this: our biggest margin of victory in the top tier is seven goals. It was a record we set five weeks ago, and since then we’ve equalled it three times in the subsequent four games.

A female soccer player in a red uniform stands on the field, smiling and interacting with teammates. In the background, players are seated on a bench, dressed in black, while some are cheering.

One of those seven-goal margins was at Swansea, where we followed up a phenomenal 7-1 win at the end of last season with an 8-1 this time round. And that was without star striker Natasha Thomas, who was away on international duty with Jamaica. She was also unavailable when we scored seven more goals last weekend, by the way.

A man and a woman standing together on a sports field, smiling at the camera. The man is wearing a navy blue jacket and a red shirt, while the woman is dressed in a black coat and a hat, holding an award.

Both those crazy results against The Swans were in South Wales, which illustrates just how unbelievably well we’re playing. Frankly, a 4-2 win at Cardiff City Stadium at the start of this season could have gone the same way. The Bluebirds were fortunate that a awkwardly elongated pre-season, made necessary by our participation in the Champions League in July, meant we were impressive at the start of the league campaign but lacked a little bit of ruthlessness in front of goal.

A crowd of spectators in a sports stand, showing a mix of engaged and relaxed expressions, with some wearing team colors and others amidst casual attire.

That issue, I think it’s fair to say, has been addressed! We’ve scored 40 goals in our first seven league matches. An average of nearly six goals per game is something I could definitely get used to!

A female soccer player in a red jersey kicks a soccer ball on a green field during practice.

In fact, we look like we could go even further in our scoring exploits. As I mentioned earlier, we scored seven at the weekend past a Cardiff Met side which defended with real heart.

A soccer match in progress with a goalkeeper diving to save a shot while players in red and blue uniforms are in action on the field, with spectators in the background.

However, it could have been more: Violet Bell, the opposition goalkeeper, had an outstanding game and made a string of fine saves to keep the score down.

A soccer match in action where a goalkeeper, dressed in black, leaps to catch the ball while players in red and blue uniforms compete for possession. Spectators can be seen in the background.

One of them, at the start of the second half, is most definitely worth making the effort to watch in the highlights: Ava Suckley strikes powerfully within the box and somehow Bell stretches upwards, as her dive hasn’t got her near enough to the ball, and got enough of a strong hand on it to divert the shot onto the bottom of the bar and away.

It’s an insane stop, and she made plenty of others.

A women’s soccer match in action, with players in striped uniforms competing for the ball on a green field, while spectators watch from the stands.

That wasn’t the only recent occasion when we didn’t score as any as we should. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the sole blemish on our league record: a 3-2 loss to TNS which has kept the title race bubbling along.

It’s the one factor which makes me wary about making bold claims about our title chances. We really should have scored a lot more goals but didn’t and that, assisted by a combination of sharp counter-attacking, good goalkeeping and two absolute worldies from Fiona Barry, a superb summer signing for the English side, were our undoing.

A female soccer player in a red kit with the number 11, standing on a green pitch, looks focused as she prepares for the game.

That result, and a cold-blooded ability to put the weaker sides away, has meant TNS are serious title challengers, although I still feel that, over the course of a season, they’ll do well to keep up with us.

On Sunday, they lost to Cardiff, which admittedly kept The Bluebirds in the running, but also allowed us to return to the top of the table.

A women's soccer match in progress, featuring players in red and blue uniforms competing for the ball on a green field.

The one cloud on the horizon is a knee injury picked up by the remarkable Katie Barker against Cardiff Met when she landed heavily after challenging for a header. Hopefully, it’s not too serious, but she was swiftly taken off and a massive ice pack wrapped around her leg.

A soccer player in a blue and white striped uniform falls to the turf while trying to control the ball, as an opponent in a red uniform reaches to challenge her. Spectators watch the game from behind a fence.

She has been scoring in a manner which brings to mind Rosie Hughes and Tommy Bamford in their pomp: despite having only arrived at the start of last season, she is already the club’s fourth highest goal scorer of all time, with the two players directly above her within striking distance.

A soccer match scene showing two players in blue jerseys defending against a player in a red jersey, with the ball near the red player on a green turf field.

Her tally of 41 goals in 36 games is clearly remarkable, but it’s even more impressive when you realise she hasn’t tended to cash in during cup tie thrashings of lower division sides.

She’s been rested for that sort of fixture, and her record in cup games is merely superb, rather than mind-blowing! In league games, and remember that all these matches were in the top tier, she has 35 goals in just 27 games.

Two female soccer players competing for the ball on a green artificial turf field, with one wearing a blue and white striped jersey and the other in a red jersey.

If she is ruled out for a while, we certainly have plenty of firepower available to us. Thomas is back now, Faye Knox is terrifyingly good, Suckley, Evie Sadler and Mariam Mahmood are in fine form and Maria Francis-Jones has a pleasing habit of chipping in with long range strikes from wing-back: she started as she meant to go on with a spectacular late goal to take the Adran Trophy final to penalties on her debut and in total has 10 goal involvements in 16 Wrexham games, six of which she finished off herself.

Three female soccer players celebrating on the field, wearing red uniforms with the names "Francis-Jones" and "Harvey" visible.

Another player who is scoring freely is the legendary Lili Jones, who has five from her role in midfield, already the most she has contributed in a season. An outstanding all-round midfielder, I can assure internet rumourmongers that’s she’s the closest we’ll ever get to Steven Gerrard at Wrexham!

A female soccer player wearing a red jersey with the number 21, focused on the game on a green field.

This season she already has five goals from eight starts, including historic goals in both our Champions League matches, and has also broken the club record for all-time assists.

On Sunday she’s in line to equal Hughes’ club record of appearances: another occasion to celebrate in a season which has been absolutely jam-packed with joy.

Leave a Reply

Trending

Discover more from

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading