Brilliant Cobblers Women promoted as champions!

Cobblers Women have been promoted as champions with two games to spare after beating Lincoln United 2-0 on Sunday, writes James Wiles.

Leah Cudone and Charlie Cooper scored the goals as Town were confirmed champions of the East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League Premier Division.

Cobblers created all of the opportunities in the first-half but had to wait until 10 minutes before the break to make their dominance count when Rachael Mumford played a fantastic through ball to Cudone, who fired home to cap off an excellent team move.

The second period was more even but Cobblers grabbed the all-important second goal when substitute Cooper hooked Beth Artemiou’s deep cross in off the post to essentially seal both promotion and the title.

Afterwards, joint manager Lou Barry said: “It’s unbelievable to think how long we’ve worked for this.

“The group have stayed focussed over the last few years and they deserve everything.

“We’ve had difficult moments this season and it’s not all been pretty, but they’ve bounced back consistently.

“They’ve proved they’re the best team in the league and I’m so happy for them.”

Northampton will compete in the FA Women’s National League Division One Midlands, the fourth tier, next season.

Fellow boss Josh Oldfield added: “Our preparations have started and we think the group we’ve got are ready.

“We’d like to be competitive at the top of the next league and they’re more than capable of that.

“We want to push again and get as high as we can.”

Cobblers now have to games to go as they try to go the whole season unbeaten.