Great Sutton Ladies 2-4 Oldham Athletic Ladies
Graham Bowman

Oldham had to reverse their fixture this week and had the unenviable task of playing the current league leaders Great Sutton on their own patch.

Sutton, who in their last two games beat both Rivacre and Warrington, were on a high and set off well.  However, Oldham had ambitions of their own and were not going to be intimidated!  The early part of the match was very cat and mouse with both teams looking for chinks in each other's armour.

Oldham opened the scoring after Yvette Brooksbank was fouled chasing yet another lost cause, the resulting free kick by player of the match; Shirley Boulton, was deliciously placed and found Great Sutton's keeper wanting at the back post.

Just before half time Sutton desperately launched a long ball down the middle, the resulting bounce caused such confusion that defenders and keeper collided leaving Sutton with the simple task of stealing Oldham's well-earned lead with what turned out to be the last kick of the half.

Early in the second half Sutton went ahead after a well-placed corner was greeted with an equally well-placed header.  Oldham refused to give up and some tactical changes saw Oldham gain the upper hand, first Laura Jones raced onto a through ball leaving defenders in her wake beating the keeper calmly as she drove the ball home.

Sutton came back well and had their best chance of the game thwarted by a committed defence.  Keeper Jo Smallwood saved at the feet of Sutton's number nine , unluckily the ball squirmed free to the foot of the oncoming attackers who must have thought it was their birthday, but Oldham's defence stood resolute and each subsequent shot was blocked until the ball was eventually scrambled away to safety.

This was the turning point in the game, within a minute Oldham's Yvette Brooksbank was running up the pitch with her shirt over her head in celebration after a getting on the end of beautifully floated free-kick from Shirley Boulton - Brooksbank raced into the box behind the defence and smashed the ball home.

Great Sutton desperately tried to get back into the game but it was not to be. The final nail in Sutton's coffin came five minutes from time when a well placed pass from Rachel Jones was collected by her sister, the ever-running Lisa Jones.  Lisa easily beat the now dishevelled defence and drove in her second of the day.