A RETURN to action after the festive break may have been welcomed by the victorious Bury second team, but it proved to be an altogether more sobering experience for the club's other two ladies sides.

The first team contrived to lose 3-2 at home to bottom club Oldham 2s after missing a host of chances to put them to the sword.

And high-flying Little Lever showed them how to dispatch a team with a crushing 8-0 win against the Bury thirds at Castlebrook.

Oldham rode their luck in an opening half that the Bury 1s could easily have run riot.

A failure to convert chances came back to haunt the ladies as they conceded the winning goal in the dying moments of the game.

Charlotte Bates opened the scoring for Bury and they went on to dominate the early exchanges, with Becky Richmond in particular proving effective down the right wing.

Oldham were able to force themselves back into the game, however, grabbing a goal following a rare break down the right hand side.

Another rare first half attack saw Oldham take the lead from a short corner, before Bury equalised shortly before the break as Richmond perfectly found the bottom corner with a vicious short-corner strike of her own.

Early in the second half Oldham strung together some good passing play and Bury keeper Megan Klymowec had to produce an outstanding save to keep the scores level.

At the other end, Oldham’s goalkeeper foiled the Bury attackers for the remainder of the game, and late on they were punished for not taking their chances as a close-range finish sealed the points for Oldham.

The win for the visitors helped them close the gap on third-bottom Bury, with both sides facing a battle to escape relegation in the second half of the season.

Bury face a crunch game against Moss Park next week, who also sit just below them in the table, as the fight to stay in the division hots up.

The third team will want to quickly forget their afternoon against much more experienced, stronger opposition.

Little Lever showed just why they are second in the table after proving ruthless in front of goal.