Coventry City Ladies kept their promotion hopes on track with a 2-0 win at Radcliffe Olympic, stretching their lead over Sporting Club Albion to a healthy 14 points. Helen Dermody and Hazannah Parnell were both on the mark for the second straight game as the Sky Blues kept a second successive clean sheet. Goalkeeper Netty Manca returned to the starting line up and had to be at her best early on as the Sky Blues struggled to get out of the starting blocks.
Dermody hit her 11th goal of the season on the half hour mark as City began to get to grips with their opposition. Emily Hanson sent Robyn James through on goal but Jackie Allen stood her ground and made a terrific save with the ball dropping kindly to Dermody who had made up good ground to get in the box and slot home to settle the Sky Blues' nerves. Coventry had found themselves up against it as the hosts had a series of good opportunities to break the deadlock.
Both Angie and Michelle Smith had guilt edged chances to fire their side in front but lacked the killer instinct to put City to the sword. Through on goal Angie Smith miss kicked with only Manca to beat leaving the Sky Blues' stopper with a comfortable save. Michelle Smith's effort was far more convincing, a stinging drive that Manca got down to well to turn round the post.
After the break Coventry took the game by the scruff of the neck as Parnell put the contest beyond doubt barely 15 seconds in. The diminutive striker raced onto Natasha Lynch's lofted pass to deftly chip over Allen from 30 yards. City came close to adding a third as they twice struck the woodwork. Debutant Nicole Evans cut in off the left flank and unleashed a swerving effort that struck the foot of the post, moments after Lynch headed a corner onto the underside of the bar. Coventry's appeals that the ball bounced over the line fell on deaf ears as the officials dismissed their claims.
Paul Cudby was pleased with his teams overall performance after some initial jitters "we looked pretty nervous for the first thirty minutes but the first goal really settled us down and we played some great football. We defended very well in the second half and were rewarded with the clean sheet". City travel to Crewe next Sunday, last season this fixture produced a shootout with the Sky Blues eventually prevailing 5-2. More recently Robyn James scored the only goal when Coventry hosted Crewe back in September.
Team: - Manca; Whitfield, Lynch (c), Clarke, Wilcox; Formaston, Hanson (Christie 35 (Newnes 88), N. Miles, Dermody; James (Evans 70), Parnell.
Subs Not Used: - Morgan, H. Miles.
Goals: - Dermody (30), Parnell (46).
Booked: - None.
Sent Off: - None.