Carlisle Ladies firsts entertained high-flying Timperley Ladies 2nd at Austin Friars School and lost a keen contest 3-1.
The visitors soon showed why they are one of the top teams in the league. Their game consisted of nothing really flamboyant but relied on them keeping possession for long periods.
They also backed up each other metronomically when they were forced to defend by a Carlisle team full of running.
The first meaningful attack of the game actually fell to the home side as Jenny Wright latched onto a ball from Kath Illidge and only some good defending denied her a shooting opportunity.
After that, the pressure from Timperley increased and Carlisle were forced to do long periods of defending.
Goalkeeper Jenny Kirton pulled off a couple of good saves until after ten minutes Karen Harvey broke the deadlock, running diagonally into the D right to left, seemingly going too wide.
But then she cleverly pulled the ball back across Kirton into the right corner of the goal.
For all their pressure Timperley couldn’t add to their tally before the break, and Carlisle crept back into the game as the half went on. Jenny Wright and Jessica Wharton were fed well with passes from Anastasia Palmer and Rebecca Illidge from out wide.
As the second half got going Carlisle played with a bit more conviction, as their midfield used the balls from defenders Amy Rush and Rachael Smith to good effect.
They caused some problems for their opposite numbers, but unfortunately, the last pass proved elusive a number of times.
As in the first half, as the clock hit ten minutes, Timperley hit the back of the net. This time Sarah Impey latched onto a ball bobbling about in the D after another good save from Kirton.
The game was now more even, both keepers having to make crucial saves before Jen Zwinjen made it 3-0 on 25 minutes after getting on the end of a shot/cross from the right at the left of the goal.
Carlisle kept going and got their reward on 30 minutes as Jenny Wright pulled a goal back.
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