Following last week’s disappointing result against Handsworth, returning manager Lee looked to hit the ground running as Wednesday took on Rossington.

The first ten minutes set the pace for what would be a chaotic ninety minutes of football, with neither team able to establish any real control early on.

The first breakthrough came in the twelfth minute when a lovely low-driven ball through drew the Rossington keeper off her goal line. In a rash decision, the keeper cleaned out Jodie Gregory and Wednesday were awarded a penalty, which was coolly slotted home by Keeley Franklin to give Wednesday an early lead.

Wednesday came close to doubling their lead almost immediately when Rachel Norsworthy whipped in a superb cross towards skipper Eleanor Vessey, but the captain just couldn’t get her toe to the ball to steer it home.

Not long after, in the twenty first minute, Rachel Norsworthy delivered another great cross from the right-hand side. This time a goal looked certain as Jodie Gregory met the ball first in acres of space, but the effort agonisingly rolled just wide of the post.

Gregory quickly redeemed herself though, doubling Wednesday’s lead soon after with a powerful header as she rose above the Rossington centre-back.

Wednesday continued to press forward as they looked to close out the half. Amy Broomhead’s well-struck attempt rattled the roof of the woodwork in the thirty fifth minute, but it would be Franklin who grabbed a deserved third goal of the half. After a defensive mishap presented the ball to Eleanor Vessey, the captain laid it off to Keeley Franklin, who lifted the ball into the roof of the net from close range. Wednesday ended a dominant first-half display with three goals to show for it.

Wednesday then took a little time to settle into the second half, with Rossington enjoying their best spell of the game.

Despite Rossington’s improved performance early in the half, it was Wednesday who struck first. A long ball over the top from Imogen Yeardley was met in the air by Jodie Gregory. Her clever knock-on created a one-on-one opportunity for Amy Broomhead, and the striker made no mistake, calmly placing the ball past the keeper.

Rossington continued to grow into the game and were eventually rewarded with their first goal after converting a penalty following a handball decision. A dangerous ball into the box bounced up onto the arm of Molly Crossland, giving the referee little choice.

Any Rossington momentum proved short-lived though. In the sixty-second minute the Rossington defence was once again exposed by a simple ball over the top. Courtney Kaye extended the lead to 5–1 after finding herself with acres of space behind the back line, and she finished calmly from just inside the box to beat the Rossington keeper.

Rossington pulled another goal back when a well-taken chance fell to their right winger on the edge of the box, which was neatly slotted into the bottom left corner.

In the seventy-second minute, Millie Colford was fouled around eight yards outside the penalty area after a late tackle from a Rossington defender. Colford stepped up and scored a worldie of a free-kick which nestled perfectly into the top right corner to make it 6–2.

Rossington then grabbed two late consolation goals. The first came in the seventy-sixth minute when an attempted cross hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity looped over the Hollie Coughlan and bounced into the roof of the net. The final goal arrived in the eighty-fourth minute when a moment of individual brilliance saw Rossington’s winger strike a first-time effort from twenty-five yards that rocketed into the top corner, giving Hollie Coughlan no chance at all.

Despite Rossington’s late efforts, Wednesday were deserving winners and took all three points when the referee blew the final whistle, ending an entertaining 6–4 victory for Sheffield Wednesday Ladies.