There was a hard-fought 3-1 success for Wrexham, who faced an aggressive press from the home side and Reds’ head coach Sugarman says her team had to come up with solutions out on the pitch.

Following her side’s seventh win of the campaign, Sugarman told the club: “I thought we started well. We were pleased to see that Barry came out with quite an aggressive press.

“So, that changed some of the problem-solving that we had to do in game, compared to a number of other fixtures this year.

“So, that was good for us to be tested against a bit of a higher press and try and find spaces.

“They did a good job of, you know, getting after us, but, also, getting numbers behind the ball and defending the low spaces.

“So, different challenge for us and I think we adapted in game to that. The short connections again, with the weather, playing into the wind in the first half meant it was really important for us to prioritise those short connections and the high tempo play, to be able to move and shift them.”

After 17 minutes, the opening goal of the contest arrived with Natasha Thomas scoring from Maria Francis-Jones’ assist.

Things got even better for the defending champions when they doubled their advantage six minutes later.

Lili Jones played the ball to Faye Knox, who fired a powerful strike into the top corner of the net.

Erin Murray pulled one back in the 43rd minute, while Wrexham ended the half seeking to reclaim their two-goal cushion.

Ava Suckley was denied by a good save from home keeper Molly Arneson, while Jones struck the post with her effort from the edge of the box.

Sugarman added: “We were pleased to get ourselves in front, another first goal for Tash, which we’ve spoken about.

“She breaks the deadlock for us over-and-over again. So, really pleased.

“That was a really nice move that she finished off there and then, maybe, a little bit of frustration creeping in across different parts of the game.”

There was one further goal in the second half. Francis-Jones grabbed Wrexham’s third of the afternoon when her corner crept into the net at the far post.

This success keeps Wrexham at the top of the standings and Sugarman added: “At the end of the day, we’ve just spoken about in the huddle, we can’t ever be disappointed with winning.

“We can be disappointed with, maybe, parts of our performance, but we’ve got to enjoy the moment of winning.”

This was a point of view echoed by Francis-Jones.

She said: “We got the three points, which was the main thing. Obviously, we did concede a goal, which is always disappointing.

“But, we got the three points. Frustrated at times, but the main thing we’ve got to look at is we’ve come here away to Barry.

“The conditions are hard as well with the wind. So, yeah, we’ve got the win and we’ve got to be happy with that.”