The only way is up for super St Ives Town Ladies!
Darren Marjoram’s terrific talents celebrated title glory for the second consecutive season last Sunday – with two games to spare.
The Saints aces only needed a point against Newmarket Town Ladies at Westwood Road to clinch the Eastern Region League Division One crown in their debut campaign at that level.
And that looked like being all they would earn in a Sunday stalemate of few chances until Emily Smith – only recently re-introduced as a substitute - rifled in a late winner to earn a 1-0 victory.
Their latest triumph earned a third promotion in four years and proud boss Marjoram can’t wait to lead his side into the Premier Division next term.
He said: “We set the team up to provide opportunities for female players in this area and what we have achieved in four seasons is phenomenal.
“The core of the team have been around since day one, including Sasha Smith, who was the person to first approach me about setting it up.
“No team wants to secure a title with a whimper so it was great to see Emily grab the late goal that earned us the win.
“We weren’t at our best on Sunday in all honesty. We always believe results come if the performance is there and that wasn’t the case in the first half.
“The players knew that themselves when being very honest at half-time and they were much improved in the second half.
“We’re under no illusions about how tough it will be next season, but we’re confident we’ll be able to compete.
“We’re set up here at St Ives Town to go higher still and the ultimate goal is to get into the national leagues.”
Saints were runners-up in the Cambridgeshire Women’s League Championship South in their first campaign back in 2015/16.
It was followed by a mid-table finish in the Premiership in the next term before they powered to glory at that level last season.
That earned a rise into the regional game which Saints made with ease to again dominate the competition.
They still have two matches remaining in which they intend to maintain two proud records.
They are still unbeaten after 20 fixtures (16 wins; four draws) and are determined to keep the number of goals they have conceded in single figures. It’s just nine so far.
They go to Hutton Women this Sunday and then entertain King’s Lynn Town Ladies in their closing fixture on May 19.
fixture on May 19.
St Ives Town Ladies squad: Kira Markwell, Emily Stephenson, Sasha Smith, Ellie Brown, Mollie Flack, Anna Hicks, Hannah Seymour-Shove, Georgia Stancombe, Katie Stancombe, Tierney Coulson, Emily Smith, Ruth Fox, Caitlin Jarman, Megan Stow, Elle Jefferson, Harriet Ford, Steph Ransome, Amy Seymour-Shove, Fran Worrall.
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