Chelmsford City stormed to the top of the table with a comfortable win at their Writtle College ground last Sunday.

On 30 minutes, Paula Drane beat the hesitant goalkeeper to a through ball and was brought down.

Angelina Robinson stepped up to make no mistake from the penalty spot to give Chelmsford the lead.

City continued to take the game to their opponents and by half-time, the scoreline had been increased to three goals, Drane adding two more to the tally.

After the break, Chelmsford created good chances before adding a fourth goal to kill off any hopes Stortford had of clawing their way back into the game.

By the end, Chelmsford had added four more goals, two from Drane, one from Sarah Gammon and one from Keisha Ramos, to give their goal difference a healthy boost.

The only blip came with a Stortford consolation goal.

City conceded a dubious penalty, and goalkeeper Michelle Bridgeman was unlucky not to turn the spot kick round the post, but the all important three points had been gained.

This result assures Chelmsford of runners-up spot but with themselves and second-in-the-table Pye both having two league games left and level on points, a Championship medal is a possibility.

If City are crowned champions, it would mean a three team play-off situation with the winners of the Greater London League and South-East Counties League, to see who would earn the right to play in the South-East Combination of the National League next season.

Chelmsford City: Bridgeman, Marshall, Watts, Shirley (Hunt), Blundell, Robinson, Garner, Ramos, Drane, Paul and Gammon.

It was not a good day for the other teams in the club as the Under 16's bowed out of the Essex County Girls League Cup with a 3-0 home defeat to Haverhill Rovers.

The Under 14's lost 5-4 at Colchester United FC, while the Under 12's also went out of their League Cup, losing 6-3 at Hawkwell Athletic.

A hair raising moment . . the Chelmsford City player (dark shirt) flicks the ball on in Sunday's Eastern Region League Premier Division match against Bishop's Stortford.

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