Norwich City Women's boss Shaun Howes on two Carrow Road dates

The Canaries booked their place in the Women’s Norfolk Senior Cup final with a 5-0 win over Dussindale & Hellesdon Women on Sunday. 

It means the ladies will face Mulbarton Belles in the final at Carrow Road in May, just over a month after they take on Ashford in the league at the same venue, and Howes knows competition for places for those two games in particular will be fierce. 

“It’s a nice problem to have; they are trying to impress everybody as they are trying to get a start in either one or both of the games,” he said. “It allows me to motivate them a bit more, but they should be motivating themselves to want to play in those games. 

“I’m sure they will be disappointed if they miss out on those games. There is a long way to go yet, you don’t know what happens between mid-April and May. I’m trying to give as many girls minutes as possible, then it’s up to them to show me who can do it.” 

City’s class eventually shone through at The Nest but it took until late in the second half for them to get their scoring boots going, with Ellie Smith and Freya Symonds both getting a brace and Olivia Cook getting on the score sheet. 

City try to scramble the ball home during their cup win on Sunday (Image: Richard S. Brown)

“I think we thoroughly deserved to win, they did make it tough though,” added Howes, who couldn’t sit easy for the whole 90 as the lower league opposition made it hard for City to get through. 

“We just have to show better qualities on the pitch, when it’s 1-0 they always have a chance. 

“It's times like that we could pass the ball a bit better, but in the end, the score line justifies the result.” 

Howes admitted they were after the first start he got from his players. 

“We wanted to really put our stamp on the game, we hit the woodwork three or four times in the first half. Other times they would have gone in, and we would have scored 3 or 4. 

“We weren’t worried, we didn’t score though as we knew if we moved the ball well they would tire, which they did in the end. 

“Scoring five goals and into a cup final will bring confidence. 

“Dussindale should be proud, they played really well and pushed us to the end, but we showed our qualities in the end.” 

Last season Norwich lost to lower-league opposition in Mulbarton in the County Cup and Howes was making sure there wasn’t a repeat this time. 

“We take every game seriously and we look at their threats,” he said. “Look at what happened last year. As long as it was 1-0, we couldn’t take it for granted. They score lots of goals and are top of their league for a reason.” 

There was another 300-strong crowd at The Nest.  

“We love playing here, yeah Carrow Road is a novelty, but we love it here. I think the crowd were great again.” Said Howes. 

A 300-strong crowd was out in force at The Nest for City Women's cup win on Sunday (Image: Richard S. Brown)

Ellie Smith ran the game from midfield, scoring twice but Howes felt she could have got more. 

“We want her to be a bit more selfish, she got her goals, but she was trying to help other people score. Sometimes we think she could be more selfish.” 

Smith was happy with her two goals and the overall team display. 

“I’m happy with my performance and it was a great all-around performance. They sat quite deep, and it was 1-0 for a long time but we kept at it and got there in the end.” 

When asked what fans can expect from their Carrow Road dates, Smith said: “We are a decent side, we’re getting there. 

“It’s all women’s football at the moment, there’s such a push on it and I don’t think people know what we can actually do. 

“It’s exciting times and I can’t wait if I’m honest. It’s incredible to see what we’ve sold so far and hopefully, that will keep going up.”