WINDERMERE Men gained a vital away point from a 1-1 draw in their NW League Division Nine match against Didsbury Northern 5ths.

Windermere took the lead early in the game when short -corner injector Mark Kendrick poached a loose ball beside the goalpost and, with Steve Heynes running the midfield, a lively and very useful looking Didsbury side was frequently stretched to cover raids by Scott Santemara, Sam Crompton and Mike Hodgson.

Unfortunately a poor first touch or manic defending frequently spoiled the final pass and, as Didsbury crowded Heynes in the second half, Windermere failed to deal with the aftermath of a short corner, and they drew level.

Windermere continued to create chances and forced several short corners of their own, but a well- drilled Didsbury rearguard frustrated their every effort in a hectic final spell, when one of their mid-fielders was sent off.

A point behind division leaders Lytham 4ths, and with a game in hand, Windermere are still in with a shout of the division title, and their form in this match hinted that they can still do it.

n KENDAL Men missed the opportunity to leapfrog up the table in North West division five (North) when they lost to the team one point and one position above them, Leyland Foxes.

As visitors, Kendal began with a slightly reorganised team, playing with a big target-man up front, in the considerable bulk of Tim Nobes, who usually plays in defence.

For a while it seemed as if the tactic might pay off, with tight marking on him giving more space for Kendal's runners.

However, the aggressive energy of Leyland, whose exuberance in tackling regularly involved the darker arts of retaining possession, meant they were usually first to the ball and gave Kendal little time on it.

The home side took the lead when a short-corner shot on goal which flew into the net above the backboard was adjudged to be a deflection. After a short corner in hockey, the first shot on goal from such a situation has to be either flicked or hit at the backboard.

A second goal followed when Kendal were caught in possession and punished, but the team soon struck back with a sweet flowing move and a perfect run by Nick Davies to catch the Leyland defence napping.

Both sides had a further goal each disallowed, but the result was harsh on Kendal as they lost 2-1.

n A TELLING final pass was lacking for Ulverston Ladies as they went down 4-1 to Cumbria League hotshots Ambleside.

Despite having beaten the home team this season, Ulverston found this a different proposition and struggled to get the ball out of their own half before the interval.

Ulverston trailed 2-0 at half time with Ambleside's Janet Faulkner and Caley Parnell scoring as excellent support play continued to pose problems, although Kate Wright tackled solidly at sweeper to frustrate the home forwards.

Even so Ambleside added a third goal through Janet Faulkner from a penalty corner before Ulverston made the most of Charlotte Regan's early break. She found Sue Hool in midfield, who in turn released Paula Eddy to run into the D and fire in.

Ulverston went close a couple of times afterwards without achieving the end result and Ambleside scored again, Amanda Faulkner and Louise Hartley combining to put Nicola Conway away to wrong-foot the advancing keeper to make it 4-1 against opponents who failed to gel on the day.

Ulverston's match at Carlisle this weekend will be played at Dalston because their opponents' pitch is still out of use because of the flooding a month ago.

n KENDAL Ladies' fixture against Lancaster was cancelled as their opponents could not raise a team.

This weekend they play Kirkby Stephen and Keswick on the same day.