Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli. 7th March 2026
Nations League B, Group 1
After the last gasp draw against Czechia a couple of days ago, Cymru took on Montenegro in Llanelli, in their first home game of the campaign in. Rhian Wilkinson opted for four changes to the starting line. Mia Ross in defence and Mared Griffiths part of a front three, both making their first competitive starts, with Carrie Jones and Safia Middleton-Patel moving from Tuesday’s bench to also start. These four replaced Ffion Morgan, Anghard James, Gemma Evans and Olivia Clark.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis was a match that Cymru was expected to win, but without a win for so long there were some nerves in Y Wal Goch.
When Safia Middleton-Patel was caught with the ball after getting her feet muddled up in the second minute, fans were thinking ‘Was it going to be another one of those nights?’. Cymru were very lucky that nothing came of the mistake and were fortunate not to go a goal down in the opening minutes.
Those nerves soon disappeared though, when in the sixth minute, Ceri Holland’s through pass found Hannah Cain who skillfully stayed onside. On the right hand side, she took the ball into the box and put it passed the keeper, 1-0 Cymru.
Embed from Getty ImagesThings got better after fifteen minutes, when Hannah Cain broke the offside trap again down the right hand side. This time she turned provider, when she crossed the ball into the middle of the box to the unmarked Rachel Rowe, who was there to knock it into the empty net.
Two minutes later the game was virtually over when Sophie Ingle put a hopeful ball into the box where Mared Griffiths headed the ball straight up in the air. The move looked to be going nowhere but Griffiths didn’t give up and ran at the oncoming keeper, who spilled the ball as it came back down. The ball hit Griffiths who ran around the keeper to score from a yard out.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith Cymru having nearly all of the ball so far, they made it four just after the half an hour mark. A Lily Woodham corner bounced around the penalty area. After a failed Montenegro clearance, the ball fell to Mia Ross whose perfectly floated cross was headed home at the far post by Sophie Ingle.
Five minutes later the combination of Carrie Jones, Lily Woodham and Hannah Cain sent Y Wal Goch looking through the record books with Cymru making it five after only 36 minutes. With patient build up in the midfield, Carrie Jones again played an excellent through ball down the left to Lily Woodham, who ran around the Montenegro defender and drilled a first time cross into the waiting Hannah Cain. Cain simply passed it into the net to make it 5-0.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnfortunately five minutes into the second half there was the only blot on the Cymru copy book, when the Cymru players were not completely switched on for the only time during this excellent performance. A long ball was flighted over the top to Armisa Kuc, who was able to get in front of Rhiannon Roberts and the oncoming Middleton-Patel. Kuc with a perfect chip of the Cymru keeper made it 5-1. A clean sheet would have made this a perfect night, but we can’t complain with this excellent overall performance.
The night was then made even better when with twelve minutes to go in the match, the excellent Carrie Jones’ first touch took the ball around three Montenegro defenders and put it into the path of Mared Griffiths. Griffiths then took the ball around the keeper to make it 6-1.
Embed from Getty ImagesAn excellent first half put the game out of reach of Montenegro sending Cymru to the top of Group 1. What a way to end the winless drought, with a first home win since that Euro Playoff Semi Final in Cardiff on 24th October 2024. Great performance from all the players, now on to two matches against Albania in April.