There was no doubting the big story from the Golden Girls’ weekend game against Coventry United Ladies – the return of Sarah Wiltshire.
While the result might not have gone in the Hornets’ favour, it was great to see Wiltshire looking so sharp in her first appearance of the season, which came just five weeks after the birth of her son, Landon-James.
“I’ve really missed playing, so it felt really good to be out there,” she told watfordfc.com afterwards.
“It’s just a shame about the result in the end, but I was happy to do what I love doing, that’s playing football for this team.”
When talking before the season started, the Wales international spoke about the possibility of being back on the pitch after Christmas.
While it’s impossible to make predictions when it comes to pregnancy, few would have been expecting to see her starting a game on December 12, as she was cheered on by both her daughter and son.
“I didn’t really have a plan as such because you don’t know how these things are going to go,” Wiltshire revealed.
“I was fortunate that my labour went as well as it could and obviously the main thing was that he was alright.
“I felt like I was good to go and start training, and it felt really good to be on the pitch before Christmas because I wasn’t expecting that.”
In the end, Wiltshire played 60 minutes on her return to action. There are now a couple more chances for her to get minutes this week, as the team looks to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat.
“It was a tough one to take, but we’ve got a week now to put things right for the big league game on Saturday,” she explained.
“It’s really important that we bounce back, we’ve got to stick together. It’s a tough league but I do think that we can take points off any team.
“So, it’s just about working hard this week, forgetting about today and moving forward for Saturday [against Coventry United].”
