Cheltenham Town Ladies beat Portishead Town Women 2-0 away from home to extend their lead at the top of the Women’s National League Division One South West to five points with three games remaining.
An accomplished defensive performance along with two goals in the space of two minutes from Tazmin Hayward and Holly Rogers were enough for the Robins to take home all three points.
Tom Davies’ side have now won seven consecutive league games in a brilliant spell that has seen them concede just two goals in that time.
“We came out in the second half and moved the ball really well,” said Davies. “We started playing on the ground, finding those final passes and then got the goals.”
The Robins have just three games remaining this season, and need two wins from them to guarantee themselves the title. If they were to be promoted, it would be the club’s first time in the women’s third division.
AFC Bournemouth and Southampton Women’s FC stand the best chance of catching Cheltenham, but the former were dealt a big blow when they lost 2-1 to the Robins just over a week ago.
Forest Green Women also won at the weekend, thrashing Marine Academy Plymouth 7-0.
“It wasn’t exactly a benchmark performance, we should’ve been two or three up in the first few minutes,” admitted Davies. “But at this stage of the season the important thing is that we’re winning games, and we’ve done that today.
“One of the key things we’ve emphasised this season has been always focusing on the opposition in front of us. It’s nice that we’ve been able to dictate play and limit opposition chances, getting these clean sheets too.”
A win against Southampton Women’s FC on Sunday, March 27 would put the Robins in prime position to win the title. However, their only league defeat of the season came against the Southerners, losing 3-1 on the opening day of the season.
“It’ll be a tough, tough game,” said Davies. “They’re well drilled, have fantastic individual players and they’ll be well up for it. It’ll be a good game and we’re looking forward to it, they will be too.”
