Phoenix Hockey Club ladies’ firsts dropped points in their quest for promotion in Essex Women's League division one.

They are now six points behind leaders Southend and Benfleet after a 1-1 draw at Old Loughtonians fourths.

However, the ladies’ seconds continued their push for promotion with a solid win against Oakway in division three.

There was no early goal, but patience was rewarded on 20 minutes when a solid strike from Kim Smith opened the account.

The pressure continued and Karina Tarling pounced on an errant clearance to bring the score to 2-0 at half-time and Rebecca Maybanks executed a clean strike from the edge of the D to cement a 3-0 victory.

See this week's paper for the full version of this story.