Boldon 3 Chester-le-Street 6

CHESTER Ladies recovered from their worst start this season to progress to round two of the Northern League Cup.

A bizarre opening half hour saw Boldon take the lead through a dubious penalty by Kerry Ann and extended their lead through Christina Adamson before the Cestrians finally woke up.

Vikki Ryder reduced the arrears with a fine drive from 20 yards.

The second-half saw Chester pile on the pressure, but for a while it looked like Boldon's day. The turning point came with a Laura Darmody hat-trick in the space of five minutes. Then Darmody hit her tenth goal in three games to make it 5-2.

Boldon scored again through Leanne Dagg before Sarah Muir made it 6-3 from a Vikki Ryder corner.

Rachel Furness had a fine game in midfield and was unlucky not to score after weaving through the Boldon defence.

This weekend Chester-le-Street are at Newcastle in round two of the FA Cup