Royal Wootton Bassett Town Ladies' South West Women's League Eastern Division title hopes suffered a severe blow as they fell to a heavy 4-0 defeat against local rivals Swindon Town Development.

On a rare off day for Becky Gammon's team, Bassett offered little in attack, which Town, smarting after a 4-3 home defeat at the weekend against Swindon Spitfires, took full advantage of.

Helena Diaz-Butcher put them ahead early in the first half, with the scoresheets not being troubled any further before half time.

Bassett were then rocked when Natalie Goodright extended the visitors' advantage shortly after the restart. Milly Colford soon added a third before Meghan Larkin's late penalty rounded off the scoring.

The defeat, coupled with a win for leaders Portishead Town, means Bassett slip to third. They trail Swindon Town by a single point with two games in hand, but now find themselves seven behind the Somerset-based leaders.

That means Bassett need to win their remaining four games and hope Portishead drop points in either of their final two fixtures if they are to retain any hopes of claiming the title.

Whatever happens, it has been a fantastic season for the Ladies, in which they have lost just twice in the league in their first season since promotion.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Thursday 3rd May 2018 at 21:36