16th August 2019
Cheltenham Town Ladies kick-off their FA WNL Division 1 South-West campaign this Sunday, at The DN Fire Stadium against Poole Town Ladies (2pm kick-off).
Alex Cheal starts his second full season at the helm of CTLFC and has made some bold statements during the off-season with the addition of Wolves Women duo Charlotte Criddle and Mai Butler, Swindon Town Women’s young winger, Sarah King, and Keynsham’s all-time record goal scorer, Kerry Bartlett, who chalked up 63 goals last season.
But he believes that the club needs to build on what they created in the previous campaign:
“Pre-season has been really good. It’s been a step up from this time 12 months ago. We don’t really look into results, it’s more about bedding in new players, and this year new coaches. But it’s been a productive pre-season, and I’m just happy to get the season started.
“We need to consolidate, and improve and build on last season. So we completely turned the tables last year, and went from a relegation-battling club to pushing for top four.
As much as I want to set aims, and we have done internally, as a club we just need to meet what we did last year, but if we can go one further then even better. As much of a cliche as it is, we’ll just take one game at a time.
“It helps not having a team come down from the Southern Premier. But if you look at Southampton Women and their mentality that they expect to win the league this year, it indicates that now Keynsham are out of it, any of the teams in the top four could potentially win this league.
The league becomes a lot closer without a team coming down, Southampton Women will want to do well and they’ll want to beat us after we did the double over them. Southampton FC coming up will be out to get promoted on the bounce and could also be contenders, there’s a host of teams really!
“Poole have been in a transitional period, so I’m not sure what to expect on Sunday. Over the season, I expect them to… I guess not be struggling at the bottom of the league, but they were always honest with us last year and said they were bringing in younger players and shuffling the pack a bit, so it’ll take time. But they’ll be a lot more settled coming to us, and they’ve got nothing to lose coming to us on the first day.
“We’re expecting a battle, they’ll be a busy team. But we’ve been to see them, and if we’ve done our homework right, we’ll do well.”
Team News
Young midfielder, Georgia Brown, re-joins for the season from Oxford United to build on her impressive form last season.
Former Wovles duo, Mai Butler and Charlotte Criddle are poised to make their full debuts, while young winger, Sarah King, misses out due to unavailability.
Annie Martin also misses out due to an injury picked up during pre-season, although she is now out of her knee brace.
Kerry Bartlett, who scored 63 goals last season, is expected to make her debut, as well as future prospect Holly Fenton.
Opposition
Poole Town had a season to forget in 2018/19. Losing 8-1 on the opening day saw them start the campaign second from bottom, before defeating Larkhall Athletic 6-3 saw them climb up to sixth in Division 1 South-West.
League losses to Swindon Town Women, the now-dissolved Southampton Saints Ladies & Girls, Cheltenham and Brislington saw The Dolphins start on a slippery slope that was too much to recover from, finding themselves regularly in 9th or 10th. Poole found wins hard to come by, registering only two wins in the first half of the season (August – December) with their second win coming against bottom-placed Maidenhead United. The second half of the season saw them continue to struggle, with the only points picked up after January coming from a 1-1 draw with Brislington and a 0-0 against Maidenhead.
A 6-1 loss on the final day to Chesham United, combined with Maidenhead winning saw Poole finish last, with 8 points from a possible 60.
Previous Meetings
The two clubs have only met a few times since the restructuring of the FA WNL. Their first encounter, in February 2018, saw Poole play host to the Robins and storm to victory, 6-1. Midfielder, Lydia Amarquaye, getting Cheltenham’s only goal.
The return fixture saw Poole make it a double, coming away with a 2-0 win at the DN Fire Stadium.
Last season saw a role-reversal between the two sides, as Alex Cheal’s side travelled to Poole and marched away with a 7-0 win. Goals from Louise Fensome, Annie Martin, Georgia Brown, Sally Butterfield, Ella Hitchcox and a Rose Knuckey brace secured the three points.
The return fixture, played at Cheltenham Civil Service, due to a waterlogged pitch at The DN Fire Stadium, saw goals from Abby Bevan, Ella Hitchcox and four from Georgia Brown as Cheltenham ran away with it 6-2.
Directions and Entrance Price
Location: The DN Fire Stadium, off St. Peter’s Close, GL51 9DX. (Find it on Google maps here)
By car:
Turn off Tewkesbury Road onto Moors Avenue and take the first left, onto St. Peter’s Close. On St. Peter’s Close, keep left and go around the outside of the housing estate. Follow the road round and the car park and entrance to the ground are directly in front of you.
By bus:
The C, 41 and 42 buses from Cheltenham town centre all stop at The Range, or The Moors, opposite the Lexus dealership on Tewkesbury Road, both of which are a short walk from the stadium.
Entrance to the DN Fire Stadium is £2 per adult, with children, Cheltenham Town FC season ticket holders and Robins Trust members getting in for free.
Match Coverage
For real-time match coverage, follow our twitter page, @CTLadies. You can also check the club’s Facebook and Instagram for half time and full time scores.
