Lowestoft Town Ladies maintained their 100% record in Norfolk Women and Girls League Division One with a workmanlike 2-1 victory at the University of East Anglia on Sunday. Goals from Selina Rowland and an Own Goal saw Lowestoft in a commanding position which UEA halved before the break but the result was never in doubt.

The game which as expected was one of the more challenging fixtures left on the Ladies schedule for the season, played at Colney Lane Playing Fields within the University of East Anglia site. The Football pitch is just a stones throw but far cry from the stylish luxurious university campus but the chosen surface of choice for the fixture resembled a local park type environment.

Lowestoft had the perfect start to the game and flew out of the blocks with two goals in the first quarter of an hour. The first from Selina Rowland as Lauren Goulder found the legendary midfielder who finished well from just outside the box to give the trawler girls the lead. The second a free kick, delivered beautifully into the box by Lucy Eagle and headed superbly into the net by the UEA defender for an Own Goal, it was a dream start in a tough away assignment to have a two goal lead.

Lowestoft tried to create more but Mia Rose was caught offside on multiple occasions due to some very questionable flagging from the UEA assistant referee which continued throughout the game.

In the final part of the first half UEA started to grow into the match and got their reward with a fine strike a couple of minutes before Half Time to reduce the deficit to one. UEA were at their best in the closing minutes of the first half but the Lowestoft defence of Francesca Heaney, Captain Charnelle Riggall and Marcie Prettyman protected Chloe Pearce well and prevented any further damage to see Lowestoft through to the interval in the lead.

The second half period saw the rain begin to fall and the pitch conditions deteriorate and it was a half of very little action of note with most of the play being in midfield as two of the stronger midfields in the division cancelled each other out. Selina Rowland who was engaged in the game brilliantly all afternoon both verbally and physically with her encouragement for others and her commanding presence in the centre of the park prevented UEA from causing any real issues.

Lowestoft best opportunities in the second half came from corners with a couple of headers that were dealt with by the UEA goalkeeper. UEA offered little at the other end of the pitch and Chloe Pearce remained relatively untroubled in the Lowestoft goal thanks to a strong effort from the defence, particularly Marcie Prettyman who was one of the stand out performers for the Trawler Girls on the afternoon.

Lowestoft were not at their free flowing best but they didn't have to be as UEA barely troubled the Trawlergirls, With news of Costessey's 6-1 win at Aylsham filtering through to the Colney Lane Playing Fields, Lowestoft knew they had to win and great game management from the whole team saw Lowestoft through to a more comfortable win than the scoreline suggested and a massive assignment ticked off with three points in their quest to winning the league.

Down the years the Colney Lane has been known as a place where the top teams can crumble and title reputations surrender, crucially Lowestoft held their nerve and overcame this assignment with an excellent well managed victory to see them continue their 100% winning start to the season.

After just one game in the last five Sundays and just four games in the last twelve Sundays prior to Sunday's Colney Lane assignment, the Trawler Girls continue to do the club and themselves proud dealing with unfortunately a stop start season out of their control. With fixtures scheduled on eight of the next nine Sundays, the squad and management will be hoping momentum can be built as we head towards a busy business end to the season with lots to accomplish between now and the end of May.

Next up is a trip to Aylsham on Sunday 8th February with a 2.00pm kick off at Youngs Park, with Costessey keeping the pressure on the Trawler Girls in an epic title race for Step 7 glory there is no room for a slip up, Iain Spoor's team need another week of full focus and execution to ensure another three points are achieved on Sunday in what is likely to be another physical assignment.

Up the Lowie!

By Darrell Allen