Worcester City Women have reached the half-way point in their league campaign. City are currently third in the West Midlands Regional Women’s Football League, Premier Division; the fifth tier in women’s football. There is no doubt that after a pre-season that welcomed plenty of new faces through the door, that City would have had only one goal this season. Promotion.
As the club are at the half-way point, the question that begs is have Worcester improvement from last season? Well, the short answer to that is yes. The club only accumulated 26 points last season that saw a 7th place finish in a season what felt like the club was trying to find their identity moving forward. City have earned 20 points so far this term, so with two more wins they would have already reached last season’s tally; with plenty more games still to come.
The club welcomed Laura Davies at the start of December in what was a statement signing. The central midfielder has Champions League football experience under her belt after her time with Swansea City, where she went to win three trophies with the club, including the Welsh Women’s Premier League, twice. Her composure, tempo, and quality on the ball helps City move the ball free-flowingly in attacking areas. This was evident only at the weekend when glided past opposition players to net her first league goal for the club with a composed finish. Davies is exactly what City need to reach their aspirations as they attempt to work their way through the divisions.
After a fantastic start to the season which saw Matt Lock’s side win seven of eight games in all competitions, the club have seen dips in form over the Christmas period and into the new year. After failing to beat Shrewsbury Town despite leading 2-0, City collapsed to draw the game and ultimately dropped two points. After beating Burton Albion 0-2 in the first fixture of the season, City could only muster a point this time around after again leading. Those results were mixed in-between a resounding 0-13 victory over Kingfisher in the County Cup that was a complete one-sided game and arguably papered over current cracks in the side.
This is a club that’s still learning together and growing on and off the pitch. Although results have been inconsistent of late, the quality and improvement are there for all to see. After all, Worcester are only four points off top spot, with a game in hand on the league leaders, Kidderminster Harriers, and the two clubs have to play each other in the coming weeks.
The division is arguably one of the toughest. But the positive outlook for the Worcestershire side is that there is still enough games to go for City to put some results together as they look to assert dominance in the league as they continue their promotion push.