Wolves Women boss hails 'ruthless' display in derby day win

The five star performance began with a 1-0 lead courtesy of Tammi George's header, before a second half battering saw Amber Hughes, Becky Anderson, Destiney Toussaint and Charlotte Greengrass add to the scoreline.

Wolves missed chances to extend their advantage even further as they entertained more than 3,200 fans at Molineux and McNamara was delighted with the second half showing.

"We know they are dangerous and we've worked tirelessly on how to nullify their threats," the head coach said.

"We know they like to get the ball in behind our back line and we also knew we could hurt them in those half spaces, which they don't defend particularly well.

"I felt we had gone 1-0 up and then relaxed, starting to do things we didn't need to do.

"We were getting caught out with the ball, trying to play passes that weren't on, so we had to refocus and get back into the mindset of the first 20 minutes where we looked like we had a point to prove.

"They did that fantastically well in the second half, it was a really ruthless performance and it's brilliant to see the goals coming from all areas."

McNamara cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as Wolves failed to build on their lead with a sloppy end to the second half.

The boss demanded a second half improvement - which his players delivered - and McNamara picked out three impressive performers as Wolves won the Black Country derby in style.

"To be honest, I had a little pop at the girls at half-time because I felt if we could raise it five or 10 per cent, we'd have got what we did in the second half in the first half," he added.

"They responded really well to that. Beth Merrick was tremendous in the second half, she really came out with a point to prove, Beth Roberts too.

"It was brilliant overall and we had the bit between our teeth. They knocked us out of the County Cup and we lost that unbeaten record, but the league record carries on.

"It's unbelievable to hold that over the local rivals, it's fantastic.

"Tammi George came out to prove something, I don't know what, but she certainly proved it! She was absolutely phenomenal, another level at times."

Wolves only sit two points off National League Northern Premier Division leaders Nottingham Forest, but the East Midlands side have a game in hand.

But with just three more fixtures to play this season - as Wolves face Burnley, Halifax and Liverpool Feds - it is now becoming increasingly less likely that McNamara's side will overtake Forest and earn promotion to the second tier.

Forest have gone unbeaten in 18 league games so far this season, drawing just three, and have a far superior budget in comparison to Wolves.

Wolves have won 14 of their 19 league games, losing just one.