ROYDON 2 ELTON 2nd 1: FOR much of the game it was difficult to tell which team was top of Section B and which team was bottom.

The game itself was scrappy, Roydon seemed subdued following their defeat in the Reynolds Cowell Trophy, and had difficulty in getting any sort of rhythm to their play.

Helen McGahan made a number of good sorties down the right wing, but far too many of the crosses went behind the goal.

The second half began with both teams level and everything to play for. After four minutes Elton took the lead when Nicki Marcroft scored from a penalty corner. From then the match came alive with chances at either end.

Roydon tried everything to get back on level terms, but whatever they did the Elton defensive pair Viv Makin and Adele Ebbrell had the answer.

Then in the 20th minute Roydon equalised. It seemed likely then that the match would end as a draw and that would have been a fair result, but as has happened on other occasions, Elton let it slip, Roydon getting the winner in the final moments.

HINDLEY 3 ELTON 1st 2

Elton started well and might have scored in the first minute with a shot that just went wide.

Play swung from one end to the other until in the 13th minute Joanne Dexter cut in from the fight and slotted the ball home for Hindley's first goal.

Nine minutes later Elton equalised through Emma Keating, but Hindley re-established their lead within a minute when Dawn Rawlinson scored following a foul on Ruth Booth. Mandy Fitzgerald brought the first half scoring to an end when she beat the Hindley goalkeeper from close range.

In the second half Elton came close to scoring when, with the goalkeeper beaten, Yvonne Young saved on the line. After 13 minutes Ruth Booth scored the winning goal with a powerful shot from the edge of the circle.

POM: Yvonne Young (Hindley), Paula Evans (Elton).

Results -- County Ladies 2 St. James 1; Hindley 3 Elton 1st 2; Roydon Ladies 2 Elton 2nd 1; Nomads 0 Hanson 2; Elton C 4 Galaghers 1.

Six-a-Side -- Hindley 5 Roydon 1; Bolton Ladies 4 Elton 3; County Ladies 0 Little Lever 8; Sladians 0 Hanson 6.