The goals are flying in, the points are piling up and they’re top of the league by a distance… the ladies’ flagship team at Lansdown Hockey Club are having a very good season!

Saturday’s 8-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Wotton-under-Edge made it 14 out of 14 in West Women’s Division 1 North, a win that saw them take their goals tally for the season to 76.

They have a 10-point advantage over second-placed Clifton Robinsons 3rds, who have played one game fewer, but with eight games remaining they are strong favourites to take the title and with it promotion to the Premier Division.

“If we chuck it away it’s all our own doing,” said Sammie Shail, who is in her sixth season as captain. “But the way we’re playing I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

This season’s fabulous form – they’ve conceded only three goals – follows on from the previous campaign when they finished second and Shail, a forward, said: “We’ve got a new coach in Gary Tredgett, he’s brought in new structures. We’ve also got a couple of new players.”

And as their ‘goals for’ column would suggest, Lansdown, who play a 3-4-3 formation, like to play on the front foot.

“We’ve got quite a big press,” said 36-year-old Shail. “We press high, try to break the opposition down, then pick up the ball and get into the D as quickly as possible.

“We are quite an attacking team, attack is the best form of defence.”

And it’s a philosophy that is certainly working for Shail who has already scored 20-plus goals this season.

She’s going to have to go some to beat her best ever tally of 42, which she achieved 10 years ago in her first season with the club, a season that saw them promoted to their current level.

And if and when they go up to the Premier Division, Shail doesn’t want Lansdown to stop there.

“I want to play at the highest level I can,” said Shail. “It would be great if we could get into the National League and play alongside Gloucester and Cheltenham.

“We’ve just got to carry on doing what we’ve been doing. If we do get promoted to the Premier the aim would be to consolidate first.”

And while these are heady days for Lansdown’s 1^st XI, the ladies’ section as a whole is thriving.

The club have six teams competing in the league this season, having formed a development side who play in Severn Division 3.

The 2^nd XI, under the captaincy of Sara Jane Thompson, are flying high in Division 2 West – they are second – while the club’s 4^th XI are second in Severn Division 2.

“We’ve got some good players coming through,” added Shail. “We don’t just want the 1^st XI to get promoted, we want all the teams to play at the highest level possible.

“We’ve also got a very strong youth section, our under-16 girls recently came third in the Super 6s finals.”

Lansdown’s 1sts, meanwhile, travel to 10^th-placed Chippenham on Saturday.