A FASCINATING battle at the Cinder Ovens saw Kendal men collect their first North West Division Five North win of 2007.

The previous encounter between the two teams had produced a great game but with Heywood dominating the score 3-0.

The Greens came to this match on the back of five league defeats and with grim determination to stop the rot.

Pressure was applied to the visitors from the start. They were allowed no time on the ball and man-to-man marking by the Kendal midfield forced Heywood into over-ambitious passes that were quickly intercepted.

Jonathan Elleray was impressive in the early stages and his relentless chasing set a great example to the squad.

Kendal took the lead from a penalty corner with only eight minutes on the clock. Steve Barclay's accurate strike was too powerful for the defender on the post who got his stick to the ball, but could not stop it crossing the line.

The majority of the first half was spent in the Heywood half and Liam Derome caused the visitors all sorts of trouble on the left wing, but the score remained unchanged.

With half-time fast approaching, Heywood found some space down the right and won a sideline hit just in the Kendal 25. It should have been innocuous enough, but the well-struck ball took a deflection from a defender's stick and fell to Heywood's Dave Gowers at the top of the D.

His first-time reverse stick shot was perfect and gave keeper Chacko no chance and the teams went in to the interval on equal terms.

The tables were turned at the start of the second period when Dave Gowers added his second, the finish not quite as spectacular as his first but showing why he is Heywood's top goal scorer.

Kendal skipper Rob Bradshaw, having taken himself off with an injury, rallied his troops from the sidelines and it took only two minutes for Nick Davis to fire in the equaliser.

Jonathan Elleray continued to inspire the midfield and with good support from Stephen Johns and terrier-like Gordon Blunt, Kendal slowly gained the upper hand.

In a single goalmouth incident the visiting keeper made three valiant saves before Steve Barclay deftly picked up a rebound and found the net.

Still Heywood refused to lie down and the closing minutes were a frantic affair with a series of desperate tackles by both teams. In one such, Ollie Murphy attempted to tackle from the wrong side and paid for his over-enthusiasm when he caught a stick on the forehead. It was an unfortunate moment in what had been a hard but fairly-fought contest.

As Murphy was taken for treatment the team played out the remaining time without further incident and ended as 3-2 winners.

The sense of relief among the home players was enormous, but the win does little to improve the league position as the three teams above Kendal also won.