23rd January 2017
‘It could have been 10-1’ Cheltenham manager reacts to fourth straight home win
Cheltenham Town Ladies secured their fifth win in six games, their fourth in a row at home, with a comfortable 4-1 win over Shanklin Ladies who travelled from the Isle of Wight.
Cheltenham Ladies manager Graham Fletcher was delighted with his side’s ability to create so many chances in their dominant win in the Women’s Premier League South-West division on Sunday.
“I think the fact that we made so many chances today was the pleasing aspect. Okay we missed a few but we probably could have won 10-1, but it’s easy to say in hindsight.
I thought we were really good, we passed it really well as we’ve been trying to do in training and the speed we’ve got up front can win us games.”
Ella Hitchcox equalised for Cheltenham after the hosts conceded from the spot before Ria Salleh scored a hat-trick to ease the side to another three points. Fletcher points to Salleh’s new position as being the key to her success, “She’s been really good for us recently. We’ve found her best position, just in the ‘number ten’ role.
“She makes some good runs and she took all of her goals really well and we’re really pleased with her performance.”
The impressive run is an improvement on Cheltenham’s slow start to the season and Fletcher points to the hard work and commitment of the players. “I think we’ve got the players into a good system, it works for everyone now,” said Fletcher on the change to a 4-1-4-1 formation.
“They understand where they’re going to play and they work really hard for each other and that’s what football is all about.”
“That’s five out of six now so we’re really pleased about that and we’ve just got to keep it going now, we’re playing good football and I think when the weather turns and we get to play on a better surface that’s going to show as well.”
Jack Watson is a Media Journalism Graduate at the University of Gloucestershire. He received no fee for this article.
