PENDLE Forest were pegged back at home to Harrogate as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Forest made a good start and were tight in defence and strong in attack.
After several missed chances, Dani Atherton finally put the ball past a wrong-footed Harrogate goalkeeper.
Ten minutes later Harrogate had a spell of good attacking play and split the Forest defence to score a well-worked equaliser.
Shortly after, Jan Cormack had to temporarily leave the field with an injury, swiftly followed by Atherton who could not return due to a bad ankle injury.
During the second half Olivia Bythell constantly pressed down the left side of the pitch, the umpire signalling for her to continue despite several fouls from the opposition.
A penalty corner was given, followed by a goalmouth scramble resulting in a long corner, which allowed Sally Evans to reverse stick flick the ball into the net at short range.
The Forest keeper Jane Kirkpatrick made several good saves from the opposing penalty corners but they eventually managed to slot another goal in to equalise once more.
The last few minutes saw tempers rise, in this previously good-natured game, and some over-aggressive attacking followed by raised voices saw two Harrogate players yellow carded and down to nine.
But the game finished 2-2.
Pendle Forest seconds were at home on Saturday to Garstang seconds, beating them 6-0.
Forest were strong from the start and opened the scoring when J. Mitchell-Stanworth converted a short corner within the first 10 minutes.
Forest continued to dominate the game and shortly afterwards Natalie Mitchell scored from open play.
Garstang struggled to put Pendle’s defence under any pressure and the locals finished the half with another goal from Natalie Mitichell amd Judith Hind, going in at the break leading 4-0.
Forest came out strong in the second half and continued to pile on the pressure, scoring twice through Hind.
The match ball was sponsored by Nick Tofalos Pendle Osteopath Clinic.
Player of the match was Tory Rowland.
Forest thirds played in an even match against Springfields fourths at Preston.
Both teams fielded a mixture of youth and experience.
Forest started brightly with Abbey Hunter working hard on the left side of midfield.
Hunter linked well with Mawgan Naylor and Dee McInnes, ensuring that Forest made headway into the Springfields goal on a number of occasions.
However, as in previous weeks, Forest were unable to score.
Claire Birkett hit the post twice after excellent work in the D from Denise Tuck.
It was Springfields who scored the first goal after being awarded a penalty corner after a foot foul in the D.
Rosie Southworth, who was guesting in goal, had no chance against a power strike from the edge of the D by Springfields after a well-worked corner.
The score remained at 1-0 until half-time despite Forest having chances.
After the break Forest continued to press forward with player of the match Abbey Hunter using her speed and strength to get through he Springfields defence and spread the ball wide right to Tuck, who crossed a ball to Birkett, who again narrowly missed the goal.
Birkett worked hard throughout and her efforts were rewarded when she picked up a tidy pass from Amy Greenwood in central midfield and slotted past the keeper for her first goal of the season.
Right up to the final whistle both teams fought hard and played good passing hockey but neither team were able to score.
All in all a draw was a fair result with great performances from the Forest youth.