Colney Heath Ladies earned a creditable draw against league leaders Hutton on their return to league action.

Anne Hickey grabbed the goal 15 minutes from time, cancelling out a first-half own goal, to secure a 1-1 draw.

Amazingly it was The Magpies’ first home league game of the season after six weeks with only cup games and it saw a balanced opening 45 minutes with chances for both teams.

Hutton’s long ball put plenty of pressure onto the home side but Colney Heath’s defence held firm, led by Rachel Sherlow.

But although Colney managed to create some chances, the team seemed to struggle to consistently string some passes together.

And they were made to pay for that inconsistency when a Hutton shot came back off the post and Louise Priseman unfortunately fired into her own net to give Hutton a 1-0 half-time lead.

Heath felt they should have gone in level when Holly Sheridan went through on goal. Her progress into the box was interrupted, in the eyes of some, controversially.

However, the referee disagreed and no penalty was given.

The second half saw The Magpies re-emerged even more determined to get the next goal.

The change in the team’s performance was visible from the off with the midfield and forwards pressing quickly and creating lots of good attacking play.

With a lot less Hutton chances to be seen, Colney were beginning to create a succession with shots from Knight and Sheridan. The pressure seemed to be causing issues for the league leaders who were struggling the get the ball clear.

The Hutton keeper was claiming everything but with 15 minutes to go Sheridan dropped deep to collect the ball and her ball through the defenders was met by Hickey for the equaliser.

Colney Heath kept pushing for a second goal but with Hutton threatening on the counter, a 1-1 draw was probably a fair result.