The
ladies capped another fine season in style with a dominant 3-0 win
over Swindon Town in their final South West Combination match – and
their last competitive game until the beginning of their 2014 WSL2
season next March. Oxford had already mathematically been crowned
champions following Keynsham Town's 1-0
defeat to Plymouth Argyle on Sunday, but there was no chance of
them relaxing for this local derby, with revenge firmly on the mind
after their 4-2
defeat to Swindon in the Ambassador Cup back in March.
United
started impressively and took the lead after just four minutes when
top-scorer Lauren Allison got the wrong side of the Swindon defence
and finished coolly with a simple tap in to open the scoring. And
just minutes later she had doubled the lead after latching onto a
delightful through-ball from Tash Caswell, marking her 50th
goal of the season with an appropriately enthusiastic
celebration. It was fitting that she should reach such an
impressive landmark in what will be her final match for Oxford before
taking up a scholarship
in America.
Oxford
took their foot off the gas slightly after the first ten minutes,
passing the ball around nicely but showing little desire to really
stretch the Swindon defence further. Swindon, for that matter, looked
like they just wanted to get the game finished and go home, reduced
to chasing shadows and barely having a sniff of the ball throughout
the first 45 minutes.
United
came close to stretching their lead further when Allison struck from
just inside the area, beating the 'keeper but not the post, which
denied her a deserved hat-trick. Swindon did show slightly more
attacking intent in the second half, grazing the crossbar twice with
lofted efforts from outside the area, but Oxford controlled the pace
of the game throughout and finally got their third ten minutes before
the end when Tash Caswell tapped in after the Swindon 'keeper had
palmed an effort into her path.
The
final whistle was greeted by celebrations from the Oxford girls, who
must have been delighted to mark their second consecutive league
title with a victory over the old enemy (incidentally, Oxford have
played Swindon 7 times this
season at first team, youth and women's levels and won 6 of those
meetings!). The bottles of champagne that were uncorked at the final
whistle were more than deserved: the ladies have played 28 matches
this season in all competitions and won 22 of those. A fantastic
achievement.
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| Picture from @Laurencereade |
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