31st August 2019
Cheltenham travel to Buckland aiming to return to form, on the back of a dominant performance against Poole and a tough battle against Billericay. The second long trip in as many weeks, sees two promotion chasing teams locking horns early. The positive for both sides being that any loss can be made up for over the course of the season.
Last season, these teams put on three fantastic, entertaining spectacles. With the bar set so high, lets hope this one lives up to previous encounters!
Team News
Bec Panniers is ruled out with the back injury she picked up at Billericay, leaving Alex Cheal with Alyta Norman or young understudy goalkeeper, Molly Ripley, who, if she features, will make her debut and get her first taste of FA Women’s National League football.
Tough tackling defender, Sam Morris, is still ruled out with injury but did undergo surgery on Thursday.
Louise Fensome is set to return to midfield after last weekend’s absence.
Samantha Hallsworth may also see a return from an ankle injury picked up against Wolves Women in pre-season.
Sophie Griffiths’ promising performances in the Reserves’ friendly during midweek sees her get a call up.
The Robins are once again without last season’s top striker Annie Martin, or new signings Paige Stewart and Kerry Bartlett.
Opposition
Buckland built on their impressive outing last season by making a good start to the 2019/20 campaign, picking up a 4-0 victory over Maidenhead to go top of the table. Last weekend, they fell 2-1 at Keynsham in the Determining Round of the FA WNL League Cup.
Last season saw Buckland achieve a third place finish after getting promoted from the South West Regional Women’s League. This achievement was all the more impressive after a crushing 9-0 defeat to Keynsham on the opening day. This was followed by a cup and league double over Brislington, a league draw against Cheltenham and a big win over Ilminster in the SSE Women’s FA Cup.
Their form improved, albeit with losses in the cup competitions, and the turn of 2019 saw them lose only one game after the Christmas break – a 2-1 loss to Larkhall. Big wins included a 5-0 and 5-1 wins over Poole, home and away respectively; 6-1 away to Brislington and 8-4 over Chesham United.
Previous Meetings
The two teams met three times during 2018/19. The first in early September at The DN Fire Stadium, which ended in a 2-2 draw. The second time saw Cheltenham travel to Newton Abbot in the FA Cup and lose out 2-0 on an incredible heavy Homers Heath surface. Cheltenham would then return to the south-west club in the league, after the Christmas and New Year’s break, on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.
Directions
Buckland Athletic FC,
Homers Heath
Kingskerswell Road
Newton Abbot
TQ12 5JU
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.
