IT was defeat in the Cheshire Cup quarter finals for Lymm, who lost 3-2 at Brooklands Poynton.

Lymm went behind only to level the game through Hollie Acklam’s turn and snapshot.

With a scintillating passage of counter-attacking hockey when Helen Weston, Ashleigh Jackson, Alex Pepper, Kiery Horne and Natalie Riley combined Lymm took the lead, Riley sliding in to apply a far post finish.

The second half was a battle, both teams pushing hard to stop each other and the home team gaining the upper hand with an equalising goal.

As the game entered its latter stages Brooklands fought back, a fabulous reverse strike flying into the net and Lymm felt even more aggrieved losing captain Lisa Hartley-Woodrow to what looked like deliberate foul play.

With five to go, Lymm created a couple of openings but could not take the game to flicks.

However, they shared a 2-2 draw with Whitley Bay and Tynemouth second team on Saturday.

After a sluggish start in which the away team dominated and scored to underline that point, Lymm raised their game in the second half and began to move the ball with better accuracy and pace.

With 15 minutes left Lymm’s attacking pressure told, Natalie Riley scoring a screamer from a penalty corner effort.

Within minutes they took the lead when youngster Ruby Kelly forced the ball over.

A win would have flattered the hosts, but they could not hold on – Whitley finding an equaliser as the clock ran down. Keeper Amy Heywood was Lymm’s player of the match.

The thirds drew 1-1 with Runcorn.

The hosts dominated the game from the off and had a high percentage of the possession, yet it was Runcorn who converted a chance in the first half to lead at the break.

Despite a number of short corners and plenty of pressure in the D, the Lymm side were only able to put one goal past the Runcorn keeper after a short corner set piece finished off by a strike from Alison Fearn.

Captain Sarah Lyons was pleased with the team’s performance but disappointed with the low conversion rate of opportunities.

“The tip-ins just didn’t go our way and the score does not really reflect the game," she said.

Lymm under 13s girls' team were 8-1 winners in a friendly at Oxton.