Two Tracy Willmore goals kept Chelmsford Highway's promotion chances intact after an exciting encounter with Trojans at Chelmer Park on Saturday.

Knowing that a win would put them in a commanding position going into this week's final match, Chelmsford showed their intentions right from the first whistle.

They played at a high tempo, putting their opponents under a lot of pressure and attacked constantly for the opening 15 minutes.

Trojans found Chelmsford's forward movement difficult to cope with, and their well organised defence difficult to break down.

The only thing Chelmsford failed to do was turn this pressure into goals.

The closest they came to grabbing the all important first goal, was when Willmore fired in a free hit which Lynn Bollington deflected goalwards, only to see the goal keeper positioned well enough to make the save, even if she did not know much about it.

With the home side so dominant it was always possible that, totally against the run of play, Trojans could actually take the lead.

The goal came from virtually their first venture into Chelmsford's circle.

Sally Gibson forced a penalty corner and was then on hand to deflect the shot past a helpless Katie Roberts in the Chelmsford goal.

Spurred on, Chelmsford equalised straight from the pass back. Bollington passed the ball to Tracy Comber, who gave it straight back to Bollington.

She fed Willmore who then went on a solo mission through Trojan's defensive ranks before slotting the ball home. The remaining 15 minutes of the half were battled out evenly until the half time whistle.

The second half was competitive and exciting with first one side then the other gaining the initiative.

Trojans gained the upper hand after just five minutes when they regained the lead from another penalty corner.

A well rehearsed routine again left Roberts stranded when Montgomery fired the ball in from close range.

Chelmsford, determined not to let their grip on a promotion place slip, worked hard to get back into the game and forced a series of penalty corners.

Eventually their persistence paid off when 'player-of-the-match' Willmore cracked home a thundering penalty corner.

A draw was not really satisfactory for either side and both went all out for the winner. Another blistering penalty corner strike from Willmore nearly brought reward for the hone side but it just shaved the outside of the post.

A share of the spoils condemned Trojans to another season in Division One, but left Chelmsford still in with a chance of automatic promotion.

Despite dropping to second spot, a win over third in the table Aldridge tomorrow (Saturday), would see Chelmsford go up, but with their opponents playing for the same prize it will be a difficult task.

If Chelmsford can show the same kind of desire and determination as they have done over the rest of the season, then they will give themselves a good chance, and they travel to Birmingham with optimism and quiet confidence.

A close encounter . . Chelmsford's Lynn Bollington (right) in a midfield battle with a Trojans player in Saturday's National League Division One match at Chelmer Park.

Picture: GARETH MORGAN

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.