NEWPORT, Wales — Wrexham AFC’s season ended as it began — with a loss to Welsh powerhouse Cardiff City. In September, Wrexham were beaten 2-0 in their opener of the Adran Premier, the top-flight of women’s football in Wales, and on Sunday, they suffered a 3-1 defeat in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup final.
Indeed, it was a day of gloom for the Red Dragons on a sunny Newport evening as they lost their second successive final at the venue to the same opponents. Wrexham’s quest for their first major trophy continues.
The final began in frantic fashion, with three goals being scored in the opening half-hour. Lily Billingham’s long-range strike gave Cardiff an early lead before Shannon Evans headed in their second from an exquisite Ffion Price delivery. Abbie Iddenden halved the deficit a minute later from the penalty spot for her 17th goal of the season.
Cardiff had the lead but Wrexham held the momentum. The inflection point of the final came at the hour mark when Wrexham were awarded their second penalty of the evening. Ava Suckley stepped up to the spot this time round, but the switch didn’t throw off Ceryn Chamberlain. The penalty was hit down the middle and the Cardiff goalkeeper nonchalantly swatted it away.
To Wrexham’s credit, they didn’t let their heads drop after the miss. Their press reaped reward minutes after the miss when Lili Jones won the ball near the box and unleashed a shot that crashed the bar.
It was then you felt that this might not be Wrexham’s day. That feeling was confirmed 15 minutes from the end when a swift Cardiff counter-attack ended with Fiona Barry rolling it into the net.
For Wrexham, there’s no shame in losing to the recently crowned Adran Premier champions who haven’t lost a game in the Welsh Cup since 2019. But Wrexham’s performances over the past two months meant they weren’t the underdogs in the manner that they were last year.
They recorded their first-ever win over Cardiff in March before repeating the feat earlier this month with a 4-2 win. Their 5-0 defeat in the Welsh Cup quarterfinal over Swansea City was their first win against the other Welsh giant in 11 years.
When Wrexham boss Steven Dave conducts his end-of-season review, he’ll reflect on a season that showed how far Wrexham have come. And yet, how far they have to go.
The women’s side have made rapid strides over recent years, starting with promotion to the Adran Premier League in 2023. They transitioned to a semi-professional side that summer and finished third in their debut season in the top flight.
While they regressed slightly to a fourth-place finish this year, the manner in which they secured a top-four finish in the league after losing their opening three games will serve as mitigation.
The speed of their progression has skewed expectations, but the final was a reminder of how the final step in their journey — winning trophies — will also be their hardest one.
Wrexham showed spirit in the final on Sunday but there was an impetuousness to their performance. While Cardiff spent a significant chunk of the game on the backfoot in the face of Wrexham’s high press, they never lost their composure. The manner of their third goal, where Barry calmly rounded Liz Craven in goal to stroke home epitomised this.
“I felt like we controlled the games and phases. I think at times we did give the ball away a bit and frankly Wrexham didn’t punish us, ” Cardiff’s Amy Long said post-match. “But I think overall, I think we controlled the whole game, took our chances.”
Given a majority of Wrexham’s squad are yet to play at a professional level, the next step in their trajectory will require imbuing the team with experience. Players of the ilk of Iddenden, who joined from English Championship side Stoke City last summer, are who the club should target in this year’s transfer window.
The winners of the Adran Premier enter the qualification round of the Champions League. And with Wrexham being granted their UEFA license in March last year, the lure of playing in Europe should help the club draw players from the Championship or lowly Women’s Super League sides.
The gap in experience in the squad can be filled through the transfer market. And at the same time, it will also be filled through losses like the one on Sunday. Wrexham will be a better side for their second-successive cup final defeat. The pain of the penalty miss will make Suckley a better player.
Sometimes to win once, you need to lose a lot.
