Oxford United Women beat Cheltenham Town Women 3-0 at Court Place Farm in the FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division yesterday afternoon. United took an early lead when Zoe Barratt converted a penalty, and they added further goals in the second half when Barratt scored her second before Katie Wiseman scored direct from a free kick in stoppage time. The win lifts the U's to second place, three points behind leaders Hashtag United.
Oxford started the game well, keeping the ball in Cheltenham's half, and were awarded a penalty in the 11th minute after a Cheltenham player went into the back of Taome Oliver. As always, Barratt stepped up with nerves of steel to steer the ball home and give the U's the lead.
The visitors grew into the game and both sides moved the ball well in an entertaining game. Oxford went close to a second when Ruby Sealey got a touch to Barratt's cross but couldn't quite get the contact she needed, while five minutes before the break, the Robins hit the bar with a well-struck effort from 15 yards.
The second half was ten minutes old when Barratt doubled the score and her own tally for the afternoon. She picked up the ball in midfield and drove down the right before cutting into the penalty area and shooting home.
Despite this setback, Cheltenham were still in the game and it took a great save from Beth Howard to keep out a close-range shot at the near post.
The game was just entering stoppage time when Oxford sealed the result. Barratt was fouled out on the left and Wiseman curled a beautiful shot into the far corner, giving the keeper no chance.
Afterwards, manager Sam Rose said, "I was really pleased to win the game and really pleased with the clean sheet. That's an aspect of our performances that we can sharpen up on, so I was really please we kept the ball out of the back of the net, and we've scored some good goals."
UNITED: Howard, Gibson, Wiseman (Trinder 90), Creaney, Barratt, Poole (Lindbaek 65), Sealey (King 81), Gotch, Oliver, Burridge, Budaieva (Richardson 78)
Unused subs: Sercombe, Legg
Report: Martin Brodetsky; Photos: Darrell Fisher
