Belles head to Riverside Stadium in good spirits after derby win

Despite a raft of weather inflicted postponements in the region, the pitch at Thorne Colliery’s Iqbal Poultry Stadium was good enough to stage games on both Saturday and Sunday.

Arianne Parnham headed the game’s only goal early in the second half.

Parnham was signed in the summer but was unavailable due to injury for several games before the turn of the year.

She showed much promise in Barnsley’s girls sides as a teenager but she was unable to break into the first team and then gained experience at other Yorkshire teams including Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Leeds United.

Barnsley had scored in all six of their previous away games but the Belles’ defence has tightened up in recent games and this was a second successive home clean sheet.

Belles have garnered 10 points from their last four games at home having failed to gain a single point in the three home games which preceded.

They remain seventh in the FAWNL Division One North table but crucially are now 12 points clear of second bottom York City who have two games in hand.

The gap over third bottom Chester-le-Street Town is ten points with both having seven games remaining. Belles’ goal difference of just minus one is the equivalent of a point.

Next up for Belles are two very contrasting fixtures, away to leaders Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium this Sunday followed by a trip to York on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Rossington Main won 4-1 at AFC Norton Woodseats in the Sheffield & Hallam Women’s County League Shield quarter-finals thanks to goals from Millie Guest (2), Sarah Black and Skye Harte.

AFC Bentley’s last eight cup tie at Hemsworth fell victim to the weather and has been re-scheduled for Friday night.

Mexborough Athletic edged closer to clinching the Division Three title with a 4-0 win at Eckington Belles.