Ladies 1sts fail to recover from poor start at Pendle Forest

Having won their last fixture in fine fashion, skipper Rachel Till and her teammates made the long trip to Lancashire in confident mood, but found themselves 3-0 down inside the opening five minutes of Saturday’s contest.

‘Gate finally got going and came back into the match, while their defence, led by player of the match April Leeson, began to get to grips with the home attack.

The visitors threatened a comeback as Freya Wilde’s drag-flick hit a post and Laura Bearsmore’s strike also connected with an upright.

That was as good as it got for ‘Gate, however, and Forest extended their lead early in the second period.

Till’s charges kept working hard, but were denied a consolation goal by the home ‘keeper who made a number of fine saves.

Pendle then added a fifth late on from a short-corner despite a fantastic initial save by ‘Gate stopper Caz Hurst.

The Ladies 2nds secured a first home win of the campaign when they saw off Brigg 1sts by a 3-1 scoreline.

Sian Simpson’s determined run downthe right set up Ali Wales to open the scoring, before Simpson herself added number two.

Brigg pulled one back before the interval, but player of the match Simpson wrapped up the points with a spectacular second-half strike.

Harrogate 3rds fought back from two down to draw 2-2 at Leeds 3rds with Lily Wheat and Sophie Normand on target.

Lucy Foggitt was the visitors’ star performer.

The 4th XI lost 4-1 to Leeds 4ths at Ainsty Road despite captain Laura Mounsey finding the back of the net.