SWINDON ladies kept the pressure on West Club Women’s Hockey League Premier Division 2A leaders Clifton Robinsons 3rd at the weekend when beating Cheltenham Ladies 2nd 2-0.

Following their defeat to Clifton a fortnight ago, Swindon returned to form at a timely moment – particularly given that their table-topping rivals recorded a hard-fought 2-1 win at Bristol-based BAC.

Saturday’s game was disrupted by heavy rainfall that battered parts of the South West – few chances were consequently presented to either team throughout the opening half.

Cheltenham did keep Swindon on their toes, though. A smart break down the left resulted in a shot inside the D that was excellently saved by Chloe Lewis, who got her stick to the goal bound shot after keeper Lex Hogarth was caught off her line.

The hosts’ breakthrough came two minutes before half-time as all-action Lewis skipped past several Cheltenham midfielders before proceeding into the D.

Although Lewis’ effort was saved, the rebound fell to Adriana Boullosa, who calmly scored from close range to hand Swindon a half-time lead.

The second half brought much of the same. Hogarth was again kept busy in goal and had to make a number of eye-catching saves.

But Cheltenham’s pressure failed to materialise into anything meaningful, and their deficit was soon doubled when Lewis’ short corner picked out Gemma Scrase, who notched the hosts’ second.

The win has lifted Swindon onto 12 points after five rounds of fixtures, with the club sitting second in the table.

Elsewhere, Swindon ladies 2nd suffered a 6-2 loss to Team Bath Buccaneers 4th in their latest Whitehorse Division 1 tie.

That result dropped them to ninth in the table, with one win secured from five fixtures.

Meanwhile, in the Verde Recreo League Championship, Swindon men’s fine form continued as they downed struggling Firebrands A 4-1 at home on Friday night.

Swindon have lost just one of their opening six fixtures this term, and sit three points shy of table topping Swansea as a result.

Firebrands haven’t won a game this season, but that didn’t detract from the hosts’ latest success as Aidan Bramwell, Dan Palomeque, Rob Riddell and Dave Miles netted.

Next week, Swindon face in-form Isca A in Exeter.

There was no such luck for the men’s 2nd team, though, as they suffered a 7-1 loss away to Weston-super-Mare in Central 2.

The loss dropped Swindon to 10th in the division, with four points secured from six games.