South Lakes 4 Wigton 4

THE unbeaten run remains intact, but South Lakes surrendered their 100 per cent Cumbria League record against Wigton.

The North Cumbrians came as close as anyone has all season to lowering the colour of the league leaders – storming back from a 4-0 half-time deficit to claim a 4-4 draw.

South Lakes had looked to be strolling towards a 16th win from as many matches as a brace of goals from Gemma Jupp, plus others from Sarah Robinson and Natalie Knowles put them in control.

But the second-in-the-table visitors – who did slip two spots to fourth as a result of their dropping points and Keswick and Penrith both winning – had other ideas.

Lakes made a superb start, with everyone plugging together.

Fantastic build-up from the back saw Catherine Cooke play the ball into Robinson, who switched out to Jenny Clayton. She played down to Anna Stable, who switched the ball across for Gemma Jupp to power it into the back of the net.

There was quickly a second as Holly Nuttall picked out player-of-the-match Emma Armstrong. She dribbled down the field and around the back of the defence, switching the ball back out to Stable.

A pass found Robinson, who dribbled back into D and took a shot on goal for the second.

It was all going smoothly for the leaders, and there were no signs of the trouble to come after the break.

Number three was added as Rebekah Nuttall had the ball on the defence line and switched play to Lesley Davey. She played into Rebecca Cook, who in turn found Armstrong.

Armstrong switched the ball to Knowles, who managed to place it on an opponent's foot, gaining a short corner. Cook injected the ball to Jupp at the top of the D, whose strike found the target.

The tally was added to once more when Holly Nuttall played out to Lois Viney, who dribbled own the left and switched inside to Knowles, her shot finding the back of the goal.

South Lakes keeper Joy Potter made some cracking saves in the first half, despite being put under pressure a few times, but with the score at 4-0 it was all looking good.

The Reds begun the second half well enough, but knowing Wigton would be eager to press.

Despite the hosts putting up a fight, the North Cumbrians managed to squeeze through and scored two goals in quick succession – the second from a short corner – to change the complexion of the game.

Suddenly, the hosts were getting into the Wigton D but struggling to score, while the visitors were soon awarded another short corner, which was slipped into the net to pull them back to 4-3.

Despite South Lakes' hard work in trying to score another goal to make the game safe, it was not to be and Wigton managed to slip a final pass through to Jade Jackson, the county's top-scorer, who bagged her third of the game and 35th of the season to make it 4-4.

The visitors were left feeling like they had won, while the hosts had a point but felt more as though they had been beaten.

South Lakes are now seven points clear of both Keswick and Penrith – the former with a game in hand – with Wigton a point further back in fourth.

Lakes travel to Keswick seconds on Saturday, with the home side looking to do their first-team a favour and take more points off the leaders to close the gap at the top even further.

South Lakes thanked club sponsors the Old Farm House, on Priory Road, for their support.

The women's team hold weekly training sessions on Wednesday evenings between 7.30pm and 9pm at Ulverston Leisure Centre. All new players are welcome.