KENDAL travelled to to take on divisional leaders Southport on the back of two defeats and with a point to prove.

They did just that with a stunning 5-2 victory, which lifted them to joint second in Division Five North and just a point behind Bowdon.

The opening 10 minutes saw a "testing-out" period as both sides, playing with four-man midfields, sized each other up.

Once again John Cochrane broke the deadlock, mesmerising the Southport defence and rounding the keeper to put his side ahead.

Southport regrouped and forced an uncharacteristic mistake from the Kendal midfield. Keeper Josh Chacko narrowed the angle but was beaten by the shot low to his left.

Kendal restored their lead from a penalty corner which skipper Rob Bradshaw hit hard and wide of the diving keeper, but the celebrations were barely over before Southport again equalised.

Bradshaw rallied his troops at the interval and Kendal midfield then took a firm grip of the game, Nick Davis' deft touches and confident dribbling creating a series of chances.

Davis was ably supported by Russ Miller, Jon Elleray and Bradshaw.

Cochrane burst in to the Southport D and although the keeper parried his first shot, the ball came back to him at waist height and he made no mistake with the second chance. Davis intercepted a poor Southport pass from the restart and headed goalwards.

A poor tackle brought a penalty corner and Russ Miller did the honours to put Kendal two up. Davis then left two defenders in his wake before Elleray's shot hit the net before the keeper saw it. Davis and Miller shared the man of the match award.

This Saturday Kendal welcome Springfields, who feature Kendal old boy Steve Peruzza in their line-up.

Windermere...................9 Manchester 2nd.............0 WINDERMERE improved their goal difference and underlined their position as NW division 8 leaders with a comfortable 9-0 victory over an under-strength Manchester 2nds side at Troutbeck Bridge on Saturday. Manchester turned up with only ten men and three of those were inexperienced players.

Their resulting lack of shape initially confused the home side until two Steve Heyns goals from short corners and a delightful seven-man move from one end of the pitch to the other, finished by Mark Hartnett, gave Windermere a 3-0 half-time lead.

But, after the break, Windermere began to find their rhythm and man of the match Mark Hartnett completed his hat-trick with two more goals. Further strikes by Gary Garside, Mike Hodgson (2) and Graham Spiby wrapped the game up.

Windermere rarely got out of second gear but Heyns, Scott Santamera, Dave Spiby and Sam Crompton linked well at times and the defence again provided a dependable springboard from which to attack.

n It was Windermere's turn to be under strength at Cockermouth on Sunday where they started their Cumbria Association match with Border Veterans /Keswick with only nine players. Sacrificing an attacker and a defender enabled them to share much of the midfield play but breakaway goals proved Windermere's undoing. Ed Waterhouse scored two penalty corner goals and Windermere's youngsters enjoyed long spells of possession, but the home side secured the game with a late goal to win 5-2.