23rd January 2022
Report by Jamie Cameron.
The Robins made it four straight clean sheets with a comfortable 4-0 win at Larkhall Athletic, a result that takes them eight points clear at the top of the table.
However, there were no other league games this weekend and other teams have several games in hand, so there’s still plenty to play for.
Amy Wathan gave Cheltenham the lead towards the end of a scrappy first half with a fantastic strike from outside the area.
Three goals were added after the break by Lacy-Jai Liggett, Jade Grove and Emily Owen to make it six points in four days.
Tom Davies made three changes to the team that beat Swindon on Thursday as Holly Reed came in for her first start, alongside Charlotte Criddle and Lois Colley.
Holly Rogers, Abby Bevan and Courtney Jones started on the bench.
The Robins weren’t at their best in the first half, but at the same time, didn’t allow Larkhall many sniffs at goal.
There were some nice passing moves from Cheltenham which proved their best way to threaten an opener, with the first clear-cut chance coming from Sammy Hallsworth.
She was played through precisely by Criddle, but Larkhall ‘keeper Abi Footner did well to keep the shot out.
The goal did come on 39 minutes as the Larks blocked several attempts before the ball fell to Wathan, who curled home delightfully for her seventh of the season.
Jade Grove was causing problems for the opposing defence, and nearly doubled the lead before the break on a couple of occasions, but Town had to settle for a 1-0 advantage.
Liggett squandered a great chance to double the lead on the hour mark, but made amends just three minutes later with a determined run that saw her outfox several defenders before finishing low into the corner.
Grove got her goal soon afterwards as Rogers and Bevan combined to set her up, with her finish being too much for Footner to handle.
The fourth goal came via Emily Owen, whose impressive start to life at Cheltenham continued with a header that squeezed in between the crossbar and the fingertips of the ‘keeper.
Cheltenham continued to probe for more goals in the closing stages, but had to be content with a 4-0 win, making it three wins over Larkhall this season with 10 goals scored.
After the game, Davies said: “We weren’t fantastic in the first half, we were a little bit better in the second half, but overall, the result’s the most important thing and keeping another clean sheet is pleasing.”
“We wanted to be more clinical on Thursday, and we’ve taken our chances better today. With the games we’ve got coming up, that’s going to be really important.”
“There’s so many games still to be played and so many teams that need to play each other, so we’ll focus on the table at the end of the season and see what happens.”
Cheltenham: Watson, Colley, Butler (Barbour-Gresham 74), Owen, Hallsworth, Criddle, Reed (Bevan 56), Liggett, Haynes (Rogers 64), Grove (Hayward 74), Wathan (Jones 70).
Robins’ Player of the Match: Emily Owen.
