Amanda Armstrong scored against Whitley in her first game back for the Wild Women (Photo by Geoff White.)
Sunday 27th October 2024 – WNIHL Div 2 N: Whitley Bay Beacons 6 - Widnes Wild Women 4
The Widnes Wild Women’s team suffered their first defeat of the season with 6-4 loss away to Whitley Bay Beacons on Sunday.
The Wild Women made the long trip to the North East with a strong squad and were boosted by the return of former player coach Amanda Armstrong, who has rejoined the club after 5 seasons away from playing.
Whitley opened the scoring on 2 minutes and were 2-0 up 5 minutes later. Widnes pulled a goal back with a strike from Phoebe Patient on 15 minutes but Whitley restored the two-goal cushion heading into the last minute of the period.
A goal from Jemma Brown with just 6 seconds left on the clock narrowed the deficit again and the score stood at 3-2 at the first interval.
The Beacons made the score 4-2 with a goal 2 minutes into the second period but Widnes fought back and goals from returnee Amanda Armstrong and team captain Charlotte Cramp – on 25 and 28 minutes respectively - saw them level at the second period break.
Unfortunately, Widnes were unable to carry this momentum into the third period and two unanswered goals late in the game handed Whitley the 6-4 win.
The Wild Women are next in action on Sunday 24th November when they play their first home game of the season – again against Whitley Bay Beacons – at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.
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Amanda Armstrong (formerly Williams) is one of the original Wild Women players who moved to Widnes when the club was relocated from Altrincham in the wake of the Manchester Phoenix fiasco back in 2015, and went on to play for Widnes for 4 seasons until 2019.
In an impressive career spanning over 20 years, including 13 seasons at Blackburn - she has played some 250 competitive games and has been Head Coach of the Manchester Storm Under16 girls’ team for the past 2 seasons. During her previous stint with Widnes, Amanda scored 15 goals and 13 assists in 39 games.
