Oxford United Women made it five wins on the bounce in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division with a 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle Women yesterday afternoon.
After a scrappy opening half an hour, headed goals from Tash Stephens and Amy Goddard put United two goals ahead at the break, and the U’s saw out the win for their first clean sheet since January.
More impressively, that makes it 30 games unbeaten at home in the League, a record that spans 1232 days with 26 wins and four draws in that time. A massive congratulations to the players and staff that have made Court Place Farm such a fortress for the U’s.
Naomi Cole, who assisted both the goals in yesterday’s win, knows that the U’s could have performed better despite the result.
“We weren’t at our best today, we can all hold our hands up and say that. The first half an hour was very scrappy and we played into their hands a little bit. Once we settled and got the first goal we settled in to the game a little more.
“The fact that we’ve played in second or third gear today and still won 2-0 speaks volumes and at this time in the season it’s just all about getting three points. For us getting a clean sheet was massive as well because we haven’t had one in a while.
“We’ve got to drive ourselves on and we know we need to be better with the big games we’ve got coming up in the next four or five weeks.
Cole has been excellent from set piece situations all season, and yesterday got an assist with either foot from a corner and a free kick.
“I try and put the ball in the right place, and I trust the players in the box, no matter who I’m aiming for, that they’ll put themselves on the end of it. I tried to switch it up with the second one, but I like to try new things and test myself.
“For the second one it was more about changing the angle because it was quite straight for a right footer, and fortunately Amy was able to get a good connection on it. I’m just glad I could get two assists and they turned out to be very important goals.
The U’s now gear up for a huge first versus second clash as they travel to Ipswich Town Women this Sunday, the 2nd of April.
“We were flying with clean sheets at the start of the season, and we’ve let that slip a bit and we’ve wanted to tidy that up. That was massive for us today and massive going into Ipswich next week.
“We know if we turn up like we did today we won’t get anything out the game. This week we’re going to have to pick ourselves up, work hard in training like we always do and trust in what will be set up for us for that game.
Join the U’s on the road next weekend for a huge game in the Southern Premier Division title race.