BOLTON Wanderers Ladies Under 12s A team marched on at the top of the table, but only after suffering a scare against title rivals Poulton St John's.

Wanderers took the lead through a Faye Knowles goal but Poulton came back with plenty of pace and determination, and by half time they had taken a 3-1 lead.

It looked as though Bolton's unbeaten record was to end at last. But the second half saw Wanderers determined not to let things slide and they began to dominate the play. Two more goals from Faye Knowles and one each from Rebecca Abbott and Sally Worthington, without any reply from Poulton, saw Bolton through to a 5 - 3 win and the retention of their four point lead in the league.

pWANDERERS' Under 16s side travelled to Preston North End and were unlucky not to take something from the game.

An excellent first half performance saw them lead three times against the strong Preston side, holding on to a 3-2 lead at half time with goals from Julie Musesoglu (2) and Vicki Price. Bolton failed to continue their fine play into the start of the second half and during a 15 minute spell they suffered from fast raiding down the Preston right wing to slump to a 6 - 3 deficit. Much to their credit, the Wanderers did not give up, and the last quarter of the game should have resulted in Bolton pulling some goals back. Instead, another late Preston goal gave a final result of 7-3.

Bolton Wanderers Ladies Under 14s lost 10-0 at Burnley with a much depleted side, and the Under 12B team, not unexpectedly, lost heavily (16-0) to Everton.

But the shock of the day was kept for the women's team. For the first time this season, the Ladies lost to a team from their own league, the NWWRFL, but fortunately for their league aspirations, this was in the League Cup, not the championship.

Playing a second round match at Trafford, Bolton took a lucky early lead when Kim Bain gained from a goalkeeping error, but then proceeded to give away three simple goals themselves. Despite having most of the play, they were 3-1 down by half time. In the second half it was all one way traffic as Bolton strove to pull back the deficit, but Trafford held on, conceding only one more goal to Kim Bain, for Trafford to go through on a 3 - 2 scoreline. Bolton's player of the match was Ann Marie Taylor for her non-stop midfield display. Next week, the Ladies return to League action at Mond Rangers, where they would hope to continue their one hundred per cent record and their challenge for the championship.