Adran Premier: Swansea City record goes as they fight back to beat Wrexham

Swansea players celebrate Ellie Lake's equaliser

Another attendance record broken, and another occasion hailed as a sign of progress in women's football in Wales.

A crowd of 3,859 turned out at the Swansea.com Stadium to watch Swansea City come from behind to beat Wrexham in the Adran Premier on Sunday.

The gate was a long way short of the record for a women's domestic fixture in Wales, after 9,511 went to the Stok Racecourse to see Wrexham beat Connah's Quay Nomads in March.

That eclipsed the previous best Welsh domestic turnout of 5,175, for Cardiff City Women's win over Abergavenny in October 2022.

Swansea had hoped for more, but were happy enough with an attendance far bigger than their previous highest mark of 1,426.

"You can see from the players' faces, they loved it," said Swansea's interim head coach Chris Church.

"It was a fantastic experience."

Despite the frustration of defeat, Wrexham manager Steve Dale agreed that there is a feelgood factor in Welsh women's football right now.

"You have only got to look at the attendances," Dale said.

"Today was really good. It felt like a proper game of football with an atmosphere, which is nice.

"We hope that it's going to continue to grow and give every team that exposure and potential to grow the game."

Wrexham forward Ava Suckley closes down Swansea defender Alicia Powe

This was third time Swansea City Women - previously known as Swansea City Ladies - had played at the Swansea.com Stadium after two games there last season.

Chairman Andy Coleman says Swansea's female side are just as important to him as the men's Championship team.

As a result, he has stated, they can expect more regular appearances at the club's 21,000-capacity home, rather than their usual base at the Llandarcy Academy of Sport.

"I echo the chairman's sentiments and vision totally," added Church.

"Why can't we play here? Why can't we play in big stadiums?

"We want to take it to that next level. I feel now we can. Hopefully with the chairman backing us, the sky's the limit."

With star striker Rosie Hughes suspended, a Wrexham side who had won their previous five games created few opportunities against dominant Swansea.

Yet the north Wales team went ahead after only 13 minutes when Swansea made a mess of clearing their lines, Carra Jones tapping the ball into an empty net after Amber Lightfoot's shot was parried by home goalkeeper Claire Skinner.

The hosts wasted a succession of chances to equalise before right-back Ellie Lake drove forward and saw her left-footed drive from outside the area creep inside the post.

Swansea forward Robyn Pinder then thought she had scored on the rebound after the impressive Chloe Chivers' shot was pushed on to the post, only for a tight offside call to save Wrexham.

But the winner Swansea deserved arrived midway through the second half, skipper Katy Hosford latching on to Nieve Jenkins' through ball to score for the third time in three appearances on this ground.

The victory sees Swansea draw level on points in the table with second-placed Wrexham.

Wrexham players celebrate after Carra Jones' tap-in put them in front just 13 minutes into the game

Both clubs have turned semi-professional this season, as have leaders - and reigning champions - Cardiff.

Dale, whose side were playing in the second-tier Adran North last term, says that like Swansea chairman Coleman, Wrexham's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are "very ambitious" when it comes to their women's team.

"The club have been supportive since day one," he said.

"We pinch ourselves. The way we got promoted last season and the experience we have had so far this year has been fantastic.

"That's our second defeat. We have lost to Cardiff and Swansea, the top-two dominant forces in the top tier.

"It's important we use this as a kickstart now to go on another good run."