There are days when the anxiety lifts, and this was one of them. Bobington Rovers did what they needed to do against the team directly below them in the table, did it without fuss, and walked off the Bridgewater pitch at five o’clock on Saturday afternoon ten points clear of trouble and looking every inch a side that has found its composure.

Rovers 2, Ashwick Borough 0. Osei the opener, Harte the insurance, and Theo Harwick magnificent again at the back.

First Half

Phillipa Corbett named an unchanged side from Wednesday’s defeat at Thornbury, and the Rovers showed no hangover from that result. From the first whistle, they pressed Borough high, forcing errors in the visitors’ build-up play that suggested the weight of the occasion — a six-pointer, with Borough sitting fifteenth — was sitting heavier on the away side.

The goal came on twenty-two minutes. Dunmore, dropping deep to collect a Harwick clearance, turned and played a long, raking ball over the Borough defence. Osei, timing her run to perfection, controlled on the half-volley and finished low across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. It was her seventh league goal of the season, and it was the kind of finish that reminds you she is playing in the wrong half of the table.

Borough offered little in response. Their midfield was outnumbered and outworked, and the three-man centre-back system that manager Liam Driscoll had set up to contain Rovers’ wide threats left them narrow and vulnerable through the middle. Dunmore and Harte found space repeatedly, and only a series of last-ditch blocks kept the score at 1-0 at the interval.

Second Half

The second half was a matter of when, not if. Corbett’s side controlled possession, cycled the ball patiently, and waited for openings. Harwick, at centre-back, won eight of his aerial duels and swept up everything Borough hoofed into the box.

The second goal came on sixty-eight minutes and it was worth the wait. Dunmore collected the ball on the right, drifted past his man, and delivered a low cross that Harte met at the near post with a clean tap-in. It was his first league goal, and the grin that followed suggested he had been waiting for it longer than sixty-eight minutes.

The final twenty minutes were played at walking pace. Borough had nothing left. Rovers could afford to stroke the ball around, run down the clock, and enjoy the kind of Saturday afternoon that has been too rare this season.

The Bigger Picture

Rovers move to 36 points, fourteenth, ten clear of the relegation places with nine matches remaining. Blackshaw was seen in the directors’ box, walking without a limp. His return against Port Caravel next Saturday looks increasingly likely.

“The lads were excellent,” Corbett said. “From the first minute. Professional, controlled, hungry. That’s what we need every week.”

Asked about Harte’s first league goal, she smiled. “He’s been threatening it for weeks. I’m delighted for him. He’s earned it.”

Attendance: 38,500. Referee: A. Marsh.