Albion Women were forced to share the points with Loughborough Foxes after a 3-3 draw at the Loughborough University Stadium.
Keeley Davies, Bethan Jewitt and an own goal put the Baggies three up, but the hosts fought back to level the scoring before Leigh Dugmore had a header controversially ruled out for offside in the final stages.
Louis Sowe’s side came firing out of the blocks and took the lead after five minutes with Davies latching onto a long ball and hooking the ball past Alex Stephens in the Loughborough goal.
After 11 minutes Jewitt doubled Albion’s lead, she finished her surging run from left back by cutting inside and beating Stephens at the near post.
The Baggies were then gifted a third two minutes later when Stephens inadvertently put the ball into her own net.
The Foxes came back into the game on 16 minutes when Becky McGrother’s floated cross deceived everyone including Vanessa Kinnerley in the Baggies goal, nestling into the bottom corner.
Kinnerley then got down well to deny a second for Loughborough, before Grace Stanley placed the ball past the Albion ‘keeper to reduce the deficit to one.
On 40 minutes the scores were drawn level when Stanley grabbed her second, slotting underneath Kinnerley after being put through on goal.
Stanley almost claimed her hat-trick in the second period when she saw a long-range effort hit the bar and then she fired over after 73 minutes.
Then in the dying stages Albion almost won the points. Natalie Murray’s cross was headed onto the post by Jade Arber, before another ball into the area was converted by Leigh Dugmore, only for her to see the assistant referee’s flag raised for offside.
The point lifts Albion ninth in the Northern Premier Division.
Albion: Kinnerley, Nymoen, Elsmore, Owen, Jewitt (McIntosh 77), Orthodoxou, Greaves (Tezgel 66), Davies, Murray, Arber, Dugmore.
Subs: George, Benford, James.
