THE Cherries’ 5-0 victory over neighbours Bournemouth Sports in their National League derby was a ‘really tough’ game, Katie James said.

The midfielder played the first half of the game at New Milton Town FC on Thursday night and was substituted for Phoebe Williams at the break.

But the Cherries went into the break with a 1-0 lead after a stoppage time goal from Erin Bloomfield, after being held by Sports for much of the first period.

“We always know it's going to be a really tough fixture and there's a couple of ex-players there as well, which always adds a little bit of fuel to the fire,” James told the Daily Echo.

“So, we knew last night was going to be a huge challenge and it was for 45 minutes.

“It was very difficult to break them down. Obviously went in 1-0 up at half time and I think it just set the tone for the second half then.

“The girls that came on in the second half broke them down, managed to get a couple more goals and everyone was buzzing afterwards because we knew that was the last challenge ahead of Sunday, which is the big one.”

James said grabbing the late goal in the first half was vital for them to go on to take control of the game.

“When you're a team like that, obviously if you go in at the break, 0-0, you're thinking, okay, this is going to be our day,” she said.

“So, I think getting that one goal before half time was massively important and I think again it gave Steve [Cuss, the Cherries’ boss] an opportunity to rotate and rest players which is what he wanted to do ahead of Sunday.

“Then again the girls coming on in the second half with that 1-0 lead behind them, it gives them a little bit of extra comfort and takes the pressure off those guys too.”

The Cherries host top-of-the-table Swindon at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday.