Cheltenham Town Women Football Club

Every football fan has their view of how a game went, sometimes when they didn’t watch it live. As part of a new series we are inviting our supporters to give us their very own match report.

Please do get in touch if you would like to have a go.

Here we are then … Darren Johnson, regular CTFC and Ladies fan and wannabe Sky Sports pundit, gives us his verdict of Brislington away. Apologies in advance for the photo – this was taken at Darren’s Sky Sports screen test we believe.

“Our first away day with Cheltenham Ladies, and great to travel home with three points from the first game of the season. The match itself was a bit of a rollercoaster from the stands, but luckily the team on the pitch was far calmer than we were while watching (apart from Ollie Price on the bench…).

“The match started quickly with Annie Martin blocking a clearance to make it 1-0, but within five minutes we were 2-1 down. It remained that way to half time. The second half started with Ella Hitchcox lobbing the keeper to equalise, and after that is a blur. Annie started scoring everything that came her way, Sophie Wyatt scored with her first touch after coming on, and Ellie Briscoe topped the afternoon off in the last minute with a curler into the far corner. By this point, I was standing, shouting and clapping in the home end and getting funny looks from home fans, but also my 12 year old daughter!”Annie Martin must be player of the match for her superb finishing, but I thought Cerys Dolloway, Chloe Rogers and Becky Wilkins all grew stronger as the match wore on. Hannah Bingham also had a solid second half in goal, in my opinion. Going forward, Ella’s pace was a constant threat. It was great to watch as the entire team grew more confident – everyone played well. To see a team coming off smiling makes you realise the players knew they’d performed.

“The work from pre-season is paying off, and it’s great to see comments after the game that there can be further improvements. This team has potential, and with the quality additions to the squad, from the sidelines we are excited to see what this team can produce throughout the season. On to next Sunday and the first home game of the season…”