THE RACE for the Women’s Premier League Northern Division looks set to go to the wire after Coventry City Ladies maintained their lead at the top with just two games remaining.
A comfortable 3-0 win on the road at Newcastle United Women keeps the Sky Blues three points ahead of Sheffield Ladies, who have a game in-hand over their rivals.
The Sky Blues made the long trip up north on Sunday in confident mood having thumped Blackburn Rovers 4-0 in their previous outing.
But despite dominating for large periods they had to wait until right before the half-time whistle before finding a breakthrough when Destiney Toussaint headed home a Callan Barber corner.
Dani Selmes and Ashleigh Neville missed two early chances in the second half before Toussaint set up Selmes to make it 2-0 on the hour mark.
An injury to Toussaint meant 15 minutes added on at the end and in the 98th minute a Helen Dermody corner caused havoc in the Newcastle penalty area and Jade Formaston was able to poke the ball home from close range.
“I’m really pleased with the win.” said assistant manager Joe Robinson, who took charge in place of Craig Nicholls who ran the London Marathon.
“To travel such a long way and remain focused for 105 minutes is a credit to all the players.
“To be fair to Newcastle they did not let off and worked hard for the duration of the game, which made it tough for us.
“Their keeper made some fantastic saves, however, our persistence paid off with three well worked goals to secure the points.
“Destiny Toussaint’s bravery led to the second goal and we hope her injury isn’t as bad as first thought.
“The atmosphere in the Coventry camp is fantastic at the moment and we will continue to push by taking each game as it comes.”
