KIRKBY Stephen continued their fight to stay in North Division Two West at the weekend, travelling to take on Morecambe, another team facing the same battle.

Morecambe 1st 1 - K. Stephen 1st 1.

Morecambe came out strongly pressing Kirkby deep into their own half, but this allowed Kirkby to play to one of their strengths - attacking on the break.

Mel Earl or Abby Bland escaped their defenders several times and made drives down their respective wings, delivering crosses into the strikers Ruth Stickings and Kim Balmer, who forced superb saves from the home keeper.

The Kirkby defence of Lou Barr, Jen Sayer, Lisa Shaw and Vicki Potter worked exceptionally hard to keep a clean sheet, but Morecambe took the lead from a corner in the last minute before half time.

As Kirkby came under further pressure at the start of the second half coach, Graham Munday made changes. Earl joined Stickings up front, while Ange Marston and Bland controlled the wider positions.

Kirkby then began to find their form, stringing together their passes and showing great team spirit. Player of the match Lucy Potter and Andrea Dixon worked to their maximum fitness levels during the end-to-end second half.

The new partnership up front began to shine through, however, and their efforts paid off when Earl made a drive deep into the area before slipping a neat pass to Stickings, who calmly beat the keeper to level the scores.

Full of confidence, it seemed Kirkby would go on to secure maximum points, but they ran out of time and had to settle for a draw, which keeps them safe in seventh place.

n KIRKBY Stephen Ladies Hockey Club is holding a 21st Anniversary celebration.

The club is inviting all former players and spectators to join a reunion on Saturday, April 19, and more than 250 acceptances have been registered.

Partners, friends and family are welcome and anyone wishing to come can get in touch with Linda Johnstone on 071683 71500.

Northern 1st 2 - Kendal 1st 0...

AFTER a 2-0 defeat in a top of the table clash at Northern on Saturday, Kendal must win all their remaining fixtures to stand a chance of taking the North Division Two West title.

Kendal never recovered from going an early goal behind and were 2-0 down going into an uninspired second half.

Manchester Uni are the visitors to the Cinder Ovens all-weather pitch this Saturday.

Cumbria League...

Ambleside 4 - Barrow 2...

AMBLESIDE started strongly against a ten-player Barrow squad and quickly put the away side under pressure with probing runs down both wings. Barrow's keeper made some fine saves, but Ambleside broke the deadlock 15 minutes into the game with a Nicola Conway strike from a penalty corner.

Ambleside continued to attack relentlessly and a few minutes later were rewarded with a second goal when Amanda Faulkner scored from a seemingly impossible angle at the back line.

Barrow brought the score back to 2-1 just before half time when Helene Burrows broke past the Ambleside defence, who were caught high and unable to clear.

Ambleside's one-player advantage started to tell in the second half and forwards Donna Robinson, Clare Matheson, Kelly Williams and Amanda Faulkner created numerous chances.

The pressure paid off when a Barrow defender stopped the ball on the line with a foot and Ambleside were awarded a penalty flick that Sue Conway deftly put away.

Barrow managed to pull one back through a thunderous Karen Tyson strike at a penalty corner, making it 3-2.

Sue Conway sealed the victory for Ambleside with a well-positioned shot into the bottom left hand corner.

Bryony Halcrow was Ambleside's player of the match for a superb performance in defence.

Dalston 2 - Windermere 1...

IN A game of distinct halves, Dalston immediately put pressure on Windermere, gaining a penalty corner in first 30 seconds, but Windermere keeper Sandra Robinson and defenders kept the ball out.

Nervous Windermere settled towards the end of first half, yet the visitors still managed to put two goals away before half time.

The second half saw a more confident Windermere link well with Jess McAvoy and Laura Howarth building up attacks, and Dalston's solid defence saved three shots on the line with their sticks.

Windermere's Chloe Fields and Jane Jackson put some great balls across the D, but Windermere could not convert.

Eventually Shona Taylor intercepted a Dalston hit-out and passed through Rose Charters out to Jackson, whose strong strike was deflected home off Howarth's stick to put Windermere back in the game although an equaliser was not forthcoming.

n KENDAL 2nd lost 3-0 to Penrith League at the Lakes School on Sunday.

Netherwood League...

Ambleside 2nd 1 - Kirkby Lonsdale 1...

IN A keenly-contested game, both teams struggled to convert a number of chances.

Ambleside took the lead initially through a well-struck Donna Robinson penalty corner.

Kirkby drew level with a fine run into the Ambleside D and first time strike by Nicola Benson.

Strong performances from Bryony Halcrow, Emily Knowles, Hannah Fleetwood, Alex Beech and Faye Westbury kept the score at 1-1.