THE ladies' second team won their third consecutive game on Saturday to strengthen their grip on second place in Division Three with a 4-3 win against Urmston.

The result moved the ladies clear of third-placed Oldham, with a game in hand, following another determined performance.

The game started badly for the ladies when they conceded two first half short corner goals and struggled to get their passing game going, with Urmston dominating the majority of the half.

However, the second half saw the ladies come out determined to get back into the game, and within a minute Lisa Davies had converted from close range following good work from Helen Beard and Hannah Wallwork.

Bury continued to dominate the half, and more good play down the right wing from Wallwork helped to set Davies up for a second goal, as she brought the scores level, with twenty five minutes left to play.

With the home side now totally on top, the pressure finally told as two close range finishes from Sophie Foreman, taking her to five goals for the season, gave Bury a two-goal lead.

A quick break from the visitors led to a nervous last two minutes, as a far post tap-in gave Urmston hope of claiming a point, but the second team held on for the win to set up a top-of-the-table clash against Salford on Saturday.

An understrength ladies’ first team could not reverse their poor form on Saturday as they fell to their fourth consecutive defeat when they crashed 4-0 at Manchester University, despite entering a battling performance.

A largely even contest was settled by the students’ more clinical finishing in the final third, which saw them take a one-goal lead into half time.

They added three close range finishes late on in the second half as Bury pressed forward.

The ladies will look to take some positives from the game and have the chance to instantly turn things round as they face the students at Castlebrook on Saturday.