Huddersfield Town Women kept yet another clean sheet in their promotion charge with 2-0 win over Stockport County
Glen Preston’s defensively resolute Terriers saw off their Lancashire opponents with two first half goals.
Laura Elford continued to show what Huddersfield Town Women have been missing by bagging her seventh goal of a stop-start season as they beat Stockport 2-0.
Elford’s opener and Louise Biggins’ penalty gave Town a big three points, bouncing back from the disappointing draw against Norton just over a week ago.
The win means Town stay a point off the top of FAWNL Division One North as Leeds also picked up three points at home to York. But the Terriers have a game in hand.
After yet another clean sheet in the win, goalkeeper Bethan Davies said: “Every game now we’re expecting to win. And I think other teams are expecting us to win. We knew we had to get three points.
“We have to put in a solid performance every game now and to get a 2-0 win in a night game where there’s lots of different factors as well as another clean sheet is important.
“We’ve got a good record home and away. I think we’ve probably conceded the least goals and we’re on 11 clean sheets for the season.
And with only six games to go, Davies confirms the team are focused on the job at hand, despite temptations to look ahead.
She added: “Everyone’s really professional in terms of recovery, eating and sleeping as well as tactically we tick one game off and we move on.
“It’s difficult to not look too far ahead knowing we’ve only got six games to go but we just try and be as professional as we can.
“And we’ve got a really strong squad and depth now we have players coming back from injury.
“We just need to keep going.”
Goals win games. Defences win titles.
Whilst the return of Laura Elford and the sublime form of Louise Biggins is something Town fans should be relishing, it’s easy to forget just how strong Town have been at the back.
Town haven’t conceded a goal in the league since 7 December last year and, with their injury struggles in the attacking areas, their backline has been more important than ever.
The beginning of the season saw 7-1, 3-0 and 5-0 scorelines as Town steamrolled opponents in the promotion charge. But as the goals began to dwindle, mainly due to Glen Preston not having a regular front line, it was important the defence held firm.
And in 2026 a run of five league clean sheets in a row isn’t by accident, it’s by design. Seven. Town have conceded seven goals in the league all season.
Glen Preston’s summer recruitment set the foundation for a sustained run for promotion this season when he brought Bethan Davies back to the club - arguably the best stopper at the level.
Adding Davies to the ever reliable trio of captain Beth Stanfield, Beth Ibbotson and Autumn Housley set Town up to go the distance.
Elford and Biggins were brought in to score goals but their games are much more than putting the ball in the back of the net. They set the tone. They defend from the front.
Then January saw what could be the final piece of the puzzle arrive. With the long-term injury to Lauren Griffiths, Preston brought in Neve Birtwistle from promotion rivals Cheadle to strengthen the midfield.
Birtwistle’s arrival has seen Rhema Lord-Mears freed up as well as helping take the strain off Ella Duffield - again bringing even more solidity to the Terriers.
With six games to go, the run-in looks set to be a tight, exciting race where the goals of Elford and Biggins will be vital. But Town’s defence seems to be continuing to give their strikers the platform to form them to promotion.
Next up for Town is a trip to the North East when they travel to Chester-le-Street on Sunday 22 March.