Martin strikes to settle tight clash with title rivals

ANNIE Martin’s second-half strike was enough in a closely fought contest for Cheltenham Town Ladies to become the first team to beat Southampton Women this season, writes Bobby Vincent.

Martin’s finish in the 76th minute takes them two points off secondplaced Southampton.

The first half produced some very impressive moments from the away side and Cheltenham recorded their first shot on target almost 40 minutes into the game - but Martin’s shot from range was easily dealt with by Issy Foster.

The hosts had a glorious chance to take the lead right on half-time, but Sally Butterfield couldn’t keep her half-volley down and it was a much improved last 10 minutes of the first half for Cheltenham.

Southampton had a huge penalty appeal rejected straight after the restart and the visitors then had their best chance from a corner, but Roxanne Lee-stewart’s shot blazed over Bec Panniers’ crossbar.

Martin came close with a longrange effort that had Foster scrambling, but she wasn’t to be denied for a second time.

An excellent through ball from Ella Hitchcox put Martin through and the angle tightened but Martin scored her 19th goal of the season.

Hannah Samuels had a great chance for Southampton and despite some late pressure Alex Cheal’s side held out.

“I’m delighted,” Cheal said. “They were unbeaten and you can see why. It’s the first time we’ve ever beaten them.

“I just said to the girls; we won eight out of eight and we started to feel too comfortable. We weren’t playing as well as we could have against the teams around us.

“That’s a great way to cap off a very difficult few weeks. The girls are buzzing and I’m so pleased with how hard they all worked.”

Town captain Sarah Walters added: “We frustrated them for 90 minutes. We were good on and off the ball and we carried a threat upfront.

“I can’t fault any one of the ladies today. We were all brilliant.