NEWLY-promoted Lymm Ladies were taught a harsh lesson in their North Hockey Women's League Division One opener.

They lost 3-1 at Whitley Bay and Tynemouth, a 3-1 scoreline reflecting the opposition’s ability to take their chances while Lymm were less ruthless.

Although dominating the opening exchanges Lymm could not make the pressure tell and the game was settled on the sides’ penalty corner outcomes; Whitley Bay making the most of their opportunities scoring two, while a succession awarded to Lymm didn’t yield a goal.

At 2-0 down good hustling work from player of the game Izzy Plumb in the midfield enabled Nat Riley to find the net with a shot scored after the ball ricocheted high into the air.

But with five minutes to go and Lymm looking to capitalise on the momentum they were dealt a sucker punch when Whitley Bay counter attacked and scored to put the game beyond reach.

Warrington Guardian:

The seconds drew 1-1 with Macclesfield in Cheshire Division One.

After a rocky start to the season, they raised their game having a lot of pressure in the first half of their game against Macclesfield Ladies.

Unfortunately the team just couldn’t quite convert their attacking play to feature on the score sheet, so at half time it was still 0-0 with all to play for.

Within 10 minutes of the re-start the away team capitalised on a loose ball and broke through the Lymm defence taking them into the lead.

Warrington Guardian:

Despite a number of short corners being awarded to the home side they struggled to find the net.

However in the dying moments of the game, Lymm were awarded a final short corner after a turnover possession in their own defensive D worked into a speedy attack by Anna McKinnon on the wing who took the ball into the attacking D to achieve the short corner.

Warrington Guardian:

Unaware of how close the game was to the final whistle the short corner was converted through a well-rehearsed set piece involving captain Katy Arber and Sally Bircham, with Arber taking the final touch to make the well deserved equaliser seconds before the game ended.

Warrington Hockey Club recorded a clean sweep with all four teams winning their league games.

The men's firsts gave a professional performance, passing the ball around with speed and accuracy.

Mike Jones opened the scoring and Ben Vickers made two classy finishes to secure the game 3-0.

Warrington Guardian:

The seconds beat Golborne 2-0 with goals from Mike Vickers and Rich Hannibal, while the women's first team recovered from a goal down to beat Golborne 4-1.

Player-of-the-match Kate Connolly was inspirational in midfield, scoring once and spreading the play brilliantly. Emma Barlow scored twice from short corners and Sally Froggatt sneaked another in at the far post.

Warrington Guardian:

The women's second team were the top scorers of the weekend with a 7-2 win at Golborne Second.

They shared the goals around, with Abi Hynes, Becky Mitchell, Molly Rudd, Amy Quayle, Vicky Stout, Emma Frew and Jenny Fox all finding the back of the net.