The women’s football league season kicked off in earnest on Sunday, rivals Corinthians and champions Douglas Royal going head-to-head.

From the start at Ballafletcher, Corinthians went on the attack and it wasn’t long before they took the lead when Shannon Groves won a corner from which Chloe Teare put the ball into the net for 1-0 after 11 minutes.

The home team gradually managed to get a foothold in the game with some clever passing which brought their wingers into the contest, but Corinthians doubled their advantage when new signing Kiera Morgan drove at the heart of the Royal defence before unleashing a powerful shot past the goalkeeper.

Royal attempted to respond and applied some pressure, Bekki Cole going close with a low shot which flashed past the post before the hosts had a header saved.

But on 30 minutes they found a way back into the match when Corinthians skipper Jade Burden was penalised for handball and the resulting long-range free-kick from Tia Lisy left the goalkeeper stranded to make it 2-1.

The goal gave the home side a huge lift and they went close again when Donna Shimmin fired a shot narrowly over the bar as the score remained the same at half-time.

Corinthians applied the early pressure in the second half but, with no team able to gain the upper hand, the game developed into a midfield battle, although the visitors did go close with a free-kick which fizzed just wide. The Corinthians pressure bore fruit when they grabbed a third to put the game seemingly beyond doubt when Morgan played the ball through to Holly Sumner who shot past the keeper to make it 3-1.

Despite Lisy going close again for Royal and Casey Halsall being denied a fourth for Corinthians, the score remained the same as the visitors kicked off the season with a 3-1 victory to lay down an early marker.

l Elsewhere at Blackberry Lane, Peel proved too strong for DHSOB as they claimed the spoils with a resounding 7-0 victory. The westerners took the lead in the 17th minute and doubled their advantage two minutes later followed by further strikes either side of the half-hour mark.

Peel made it 5-0 in the 49th minute before Old Boys enjoyed a good spell, but the visitors pulled clear late on with two more goals. Leading the way for the westerners was Sarah O’Reilly and Maxine Smalley who both netted hat-tricks and were joined on the scoresheet by Sarah Taylor.

l The other game on the opening day of the Women’s League season saw Colby and Castletown meet in the first southern derby for a number of years in front of a good crowd at the Station Fields.

Colby’s side featured no fewer than seven debutants, four of which were playing their first league game, while it was Castletown’s first match since reforming in the summer.

The game was closely-fought, with both teams going close. The Moonlighters were the quickest out of the blocks and started the game with some fast attacks, but Town grew into the match and it developed into an end-to-end affair.

Colby very nearly found a breakthrough when they were awarded a penalty for handball, only for the Town shot stopper to pull off a fine save to keep the scores level. Castletown went close themselves with a free-kick which struck the crossbar but the game remained goalless at half-time.

Town got off to a bright start in the second half but Colby defended well and kept them out. Midway through the half, the deadlock was broken when a Colby corner from Meg Hoare found debutant Emma Morter at the near post who squeezed the ball home for her first Colby goal.

In reply, Castletown stepped up their attacks and forced the Moonlighters goalkeeper to pull off some brilliant saves.

Colby managed a few rare forays forward but the Town keeper was equal to the task and the Mets continued to push for an equaliser.

Try as they might though, Castletown were unable to break down the Colby backline and it was the Moonlighters who held on to claim a narrow 1-0 win.

Anyone interested in getting involved in female football should email [email protected] to discuss junior or senior options - all abilities welcome.