Stockport County Ladies 1-0 Oldham Athletic Ladies
Graham Bowman

With several key players missing you could be forgiven for thinking that Oldham might get a bit of a hammering from local rivals Stockport County HNR.

But nothing could be further from the truth!  With a string of players unavailable including goalkeeper, centre half and a striker, Oldham showed the sort of team spirit that got them promoted to the first division last season.

Tina Mellor had a foot injury but was so determined to play she volunteered to go between the sticks, and several other players adopted unfamiliar roles in order to give the team a more balanced look.

Things were understandably shaky at first with Oldham's makeshift keeper working hard to keep County at bay.  But as the game progressed Oldham's confidence grew and the ladies started to impose themselves on the game.

But with only a few minutes to go before half time, a momentary lapse of concentration meant a stray pass was capitalised on by Stockport, and the resulting shot nestled into the bottom left corner with keeper Tina Mellor at full stretch.

In the second half Oldham took the game to the visitors with wave after wave of attacking football. Lisa Jones led the line linking up well with Yvette Brooksbank who was a constant threat.

Midfielder Shirley Boulton controlled the centre of the field like a professional whilst at the back, new signing Cerise Brooks, put in the type of crunching tackles that had the male spectators wincing and together with Laura Challoner had HNR in their pockets allowing the full backs the liberty to increase the pressure with forward runs.

The last 15 minutes saw Oldham play almost entirely in County's final third and only a combination of good keeping and good fortune conspired to keep Latics from equalising.  County left with the points but Oldham with their pride intact.