Dereham Ladies 2, Holcombe 4Dereham's title hopes suffered a blow when they suffered only their third defeat of the season in the Premier Division of the Women's East League.

Dereham Ladies 2, Holcombe 4

Dereham's title hopes suffered a blow when they suffered only their third defeat of the season in the Premier Division of the Women's East League.

They were beaten 4-2 at home by Holcombe, who moved a point clear at the top of the table as a result.

Dereham dropped to second while Cambridge City are also involved in a three-way battle for the title. They are two points adrift of Dereham but have two games in hand.

Saturday's clash was a see-saw affair, with Holcombe twice taking the lead before the break, only to be pegged back by two goals from Evie van Poortvliet, the first from a penalty flick.

Dereham had their chances in the second half but the visitors got the crucial fifth goal and added another in the dying minutes.

North Walsham Ladies 1, Dereham Ladies II 3

DEREHAM moved up to a well-deserved third place in Division Two North East of the East League after a convincing win over mid-table Walsham.

The visitors got off to a positive start, maintaining possession and having several chances. Jess Shand finally broke the deadlock after some beautiful passing from the Dereham side that were looking to build on last week's win.

Shand turned provider for Dereham's second goal, which saw Rachel Cramp add to her season's tally with a lovely effort. It wasn't long before Dereham got their third and final goal when Shand netted for the second time.

Dereham stepped off the pressure a little and allowed North Walsham a goal just before half-time, despite not having to defend too much prior to that.

Dereham who have now moved above Norwich Dragons into third place. The play the Dragons next ,at Hobart.

Harleston Magpies 2, Dereham 1

Any local derby can be a hard-fought affair and Saturday's Men's East League top versus bottom clash in the Premier A Division did not disappoint.

Magpies eventually extended their winning run to 12 games, but were made to fight every inch of the way by the hosts.

Dereham were quick out of the traps and the visitors were grateful to keeper Richard Harms for a good early save.

This scare spurred Harleston into life and good play down the right from Sumner and Bale set up Andy Hipwell, who lashed the ball goalwards, with a deflection off a defender's foot taking it past the despairing keeper.

Harleston continued to press and were rewarded when Hipwell dispatched a trade-mark short corner.

An inspiring team talk from coach Dave Walton helped Dereham dominate the second half. They broke through when Ben Warnes followed up a shot the keeper had saved.

Ten minutes from the end, with Dereham were awarded a penalty stroke when Richard Gill appeared to stop an Andy Lawrence short corner strike on the line with his foot, only for the other umpire to overturn the decision.