Ladies cede ground in title race

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Ladies fell to a 3-1 loss against Portishead Town, meaning their lead over their nearest title rivals has been cut to a single point.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Ladies finally surrendered their unblemished South West Women's Football League Eastern Division record as they were defeated 3-1 by title rivals Portishead Town.

The teams had drawn 1-1 when they met a fortnight ago in Somerset, though Bassett were the happier of the teams at the end of that contest, holding on to preserve a point.

Becky Gammon's side were therefore hoping for a more favourable afternoon when Portishead visited Wiltshire, but ultimately they came up short.

Portishead again edged the game and were arguably the better team.

After an equal opening twenty five minutes, it was the visitors who went in front courtesy of a stunning strike set up from a corner.

Bassett equalised on the stroke of half time though as Laura Gammon was brought down in the box and Cara Costello put away the penalty.

Portishead looked the stronger of the sides following the restart. Yet they would have to wait until just quarter of an hour remained to reclaim the lead, seizing upon an unfortunate defensive error.

A decisive third then followed five minutes later, and while Bassett gave it their all to salvage a lifeline, it wasn't meant to be.

Despite the result, Bassett still sit top of the table, a point ahead of Portishead.

However, it adds extra importance to the two fixtures Bassett have against third place side Swindon Town Development, who still trail by five points after defeat against Team Mendip.

And with fourth place Almondsbury still to play, Bassett surely now need to win all of their remaining fixtures to lay claim to the title.

What's certain is that it's now set to be an ever more fascinating conclusion to the campaign.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Sunday 8th April 2018 at 17:56