hockey league with a comfortable 3-1 win over Swallows at Nationals on the weekend.

Canaries always held the upper hand, although Swallows' determination kept them in the game.

Lisa DeSilva netted the first Canaries goal but Swallows soon equalised from a penalty stroke, awarded after goalkeeper Val Young had made a brilliant save only to see the deflected shot roll onto a defender's foot.

Newcomer Cathy Griffiths squeezed the penalty past Young's left pad.

A bruised and battered Sandra McDougall scored the second Canaries goal after a superb pass from Stacey DeShields. And captain Rhonda Rawlins capped the win with Canaries' third.

Second-placed Bluebirds remained 10 points behind with a 1-0 win over Swifts, the winning goal coming in the last 15 minutes.

Cardinals won by a similar scoreline over Orioles. Jessica Sousa netted the game's only goal early in the second half when she sent in a hard hit from the top of the D. Laura Bardgett managed to get her stick to the ball and tip it into goal.

Sweeper Belthea Pringle had an outstanding game for Orioles as she managed to stop Cardinals forward Maria Pichery on numerous occasions.

In B League action, Cardinals beat Orioles 1-0 with Arlene Andrews scoring the winning goal from a long corner.

League leaders Canaries were held to a 0-0 draw by Swallows in an evenly matched game while the encounter between Bluebirds and Swifts was not played due to a lack of umpires.

Photos by Ras Mykkal ON THE BALL -- Jenny Burrell (left) of Swallows and Ali Cameron of Canaries tussle for possession during Sunday's Women's Hockey League B Division match at Nationals. The game ended goalless. BELOW -- Lisa Cullen (left) of Swallows gets to the ball ahead of Canaries' Lakiba Rempel.