Wrexham’s journey in the UEFA Women’s Champions League came to an end with a 4-1 defeat to Riga in the first qualifying round final at The Racecourse on Saturday.
The Red Dragons became the first Genero Adran Premier side to win in Europe for seven years by defeating FC Pyunik in Wednesday’s semi-final, but they could not go one step further and become the first ever Welsh club to reach the second qualifying round.
Jenny Sugarman made two changes from the semi-final win, with summer signings Natasha Thomas – who scored off the bench in midweek – and Lydia Sallaway coming in to start in place of Phoebe Davies and Josie Smith.
Wrexham could not have dreamt of a better start as they were ahead inside eight minutes when Riga failed to properly clear Faye Knox’s free-kick and the ball fell just inside the box to Lili Jones, who produced a superb half-volley past Aleksandra Torgosova – the midfielder’s second goal in Europe after a stunning strike against Pyunik.
There were opportunities to add to the lead throughout the first half, most notably when Faye Knox let fly from the edge of the box but was denied by Torgosova. Natasha Thomas also looked lively but could not find the target with a pair of strikes. At the other end of the pitch, Liz Craven was rarely troubled as Nikola Preijere and Laura Kallase both sent efforts wide.
It meant that Wrexham were good value for their lead at the break, but Riga turned the game on its head with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Minami Oi headed in from Shiori Kato’s cross to level the contest, before Preijere played through Kumba Brina to slot home.
The Latvians’ lead was doubled shortly after the hour mark when Wakana Mitani cut the ball back for Kallase to finish, before victory was sealed in the 79th minute as the ball fell to Kato in the box and she clinically fired low past Craven.
It is rare that Wrexham have looked as shellshocked under Sugarman – indeed this is their heaviest defeat with the former West Brom boss at the helm – but the game simply got away from them as their European campaign came to an end.
“We’ve been beaten by a better side with some top quality individual players,” an emotional Sugarman said after the game. “Obviously we’re massively disappointed. We wanted this journey to go on, we wanted the fans to enjoy it a little bit longer.
“But we can be proud of the work we’ve done. Firstly in getting here, because that was never quite the plan in the first season, and then of the work in the last few weeks and across these two games.
“This is the motivation to go again, do it again next year and the year after that. To make this team better, have more of these days, more of these experiences, make it last. We’ll be back.”
