A Mike Hodgson hat-trick gave Windermere a comfortable NW League Div 6 victory over Cheetham Hill on Saturday.

Now leading on goal difference from Timperley and Didsbury, Windermere have a chance to open up a gap in the promotion race, as their next two fixtures are against their closest rivals, starting tomorrow (Saturday) with Timperley.

Saturday’s match was on a water logged pitch at the Belle Vue hockey centre and it took Windermere some time to find their rhythm.

Cheetham peppered their defence with long balls for their forwards to chase on the skiddy surface but once defenders Dominic Quill, Mark Kendick, Ed Watyerhouse and Peter Simm had got their measure, it was only a matter of time before Windermere scored.

All the goals came in the second half, and the opener was a clever deflection off a Steve Heyns hit by Hodgson.

Scott Santamera created the second when he dribbled into the D and fired two shots in quick succession.

The Cheetham goalkeeper stopped them both, but the ball dropped into Hodgson’s path for simple tap-ins.

Hodgson completed his hat-trick at a penalty corner when his driven shot went in off a defender’s stick. Cheetham scored themselves from a penalty corner, late in the match.

Windermere goalkeeper Andrew Darling had a great game and made a crucial one-on-one save, but it was midfielder Steve Heyns who won Windermere’s man of the match vote.

Carlisle 1 Kirkby Stephen 3 Kirkby Stephen Men made a winning start to their Cumbria Sunday Association season at Carlisle, winning 3-1 in an exciting game with goal-scoring opportunities at either end.

Stu Parkin made a man of the match debut in goals pulling off a string of saves to keep a first- half clean sheet. He was well supported by fellow defenders Chris Solf, Rob Shannon, Matt Frith and Andrew Smith, enabling Kirkby to convert defence into attack very quickly, and this is what created the opening goal.

Solf found Colin Smithson high up the field and Smithson did the rest. His brother, Barry, then slipped him a pass for his second goal just before half-time.

As Carlisle looked to fight back after the restart, Frith and Solf made numerous crucial tackles, and any further advances were cleared by Parkin before Balmer found the bottom corner at the other end to put Kirkby three up.

Carlisle managed a late consolation goal in the final moments of the game.

Women Ambleside 5 Wigton 1 Ambleside started strongly with Clare Matheson opening the scoring with her first goal of the season.

Wigton responded with a drive through midfield and Rebecca Holdon found herself in the D and finished well to make it 1-1.

Matheson quickly followed it up with her second a few minutes later with a deflection in at the far post.

Donna Robinson extended AHC's lead just before half-time with a strong, accurate strike.

Ambleside continued to attack in the second half and Helen Barber grabbed a fourth with a decisive sweep from an Amanda Faulkner cross.

Faulkner herself was denied on a number of occasions but her persistence paid off, and she was rewarded with a goal from a solo penalty corner, leaving the score at 5-1.

Ulverston 2 Ambleside 4 In gale force wind and unrelenting rain, both teams struggled to find any form.

Ambleside took an early lead when Donna Robinson sneaked the ball past the Ulverston keeper.

Ambleside, trying to play the ball around the back, were caught out when the Ulverston centre forward latched on to a misplaced pass.

Georgia Wilson, the young Ambleside keeper made an excellent first save. However. she was out of position and unable to prevent the second strike, leaving the score at 1-1.

A second goal from AHC settled their nerves when Donna Robinson delivered a defence-splitting pass to find an unmarked Helen Barber, who slotted into the corner.

Ulverston again pegged the score back to 2-2. However, Ambleside went into the break 3-2 up, thanks to the excellent skills of Chelsea Daley, who took the ball past several defenders and kept a cool head to accurately finish past a well-positioned keeper.

Ambleside dominated the second half but some great work from the Ulverston defence kept the scores at 3-2 for the majority of the half.

Donna Robinson found a way past the defence when she collected a precision free hit from Sheelagh Newell, turned on the spot and unleashed an unstoppable strike, making the final score 4-2 to the visitors.

Kendal 4 Sale 0 A flooded pitch at QKS saw Kendal move to Kirkby Kendal School for their game against Sale.

The appalling conditions left players struggling to grip their sticks and prompted a sluggish start from Kendal.

Despite being dragged into a physical game by their opposition, Kendal managed to control possession and direct play.

Nicola Conway broke the deadlock with a goal from a short corner. While Louise Whiteley’s tap-in at the far post gave the home side a 2-0 lead to take into the break.

Kendal nearly undid the good work they had done in the first half as complacency crept into their game for the start of the second half.

The Sale attack found goalkeeper Price in a stubborn mood and her form ensured Kendal didn’t concede.

Kendal dug deep and Emma Taggart and Louise Whitley provided two more goals as the home side ran out 4-0 winners.

Didsbury Northern 3 Kirkby Stephen 1 KIRKBY Stephen Ladies lost 3-1 at Didsbury Northern in Saturday’s NW national feeder league match.

Didsbury fielded a much- improved first team from the one Kirkby faced last season and, although Kirkby made a promising start with some good possession, Didsbury were the ones who converted their opportunities into goals.

The home side scored twice in the first half and although Kirkby battled bravely they were well outplayed and Didsbury scored again.

Kirkby’s consolation was a late goal after a driven ball found Rachel Faustino on a post.

Her deflection was cleared off the line but Jen Sayer backed up well to sweep the ball into the goal.

Kirkby face league newcomers Preston at home tomorrow (Saturday), pushback is at 1pm.