Swallows? impressive A team suffered a rare defeat at the weekend ? their first since Astroturf was laid at the National Sports Centre last year.

The team have been an unstoppable force over the last two seasons, consistently rolling over their competition, often without allowing a single goal.

But Ravens? A squad brought that unbeaten record to an abrupt end on Saturday, taking the Swallows down 5-2 in a fast-paced match.

Ravens enjoyed good possession throughout much of the game but it was Swallows who were first on the scoreboard as Joann Wilson found the net early in the first half. However, just four minutes later Ravens roared back, earning a short corner which was successfully converted by Caroline Black.

Swallows earned two quick short corners themselves but on the first Yvonne Slattery shot well high of the goal and on the second Jenny Burrell failed to find the right touch.

The defending league champions went ahead shortly before the break when Burrell found Wilson who slotted the ball home.

Swallows enjoyed a flurry of activity around the Ravens net in the final two minutes of the half but were unable to add to their lead.

Both teams came out strongly for the second half with play see-sawing from one end to the other for the first 12 minutes.

But Ravens soon earned back-to-back short corners with Black nailing a superb equaliser.

And it was the underdogs who found the mark again when Emma Simmons broke away into the D where she found Megan Spurling who hammered home goal number three.

New Raven Jessie Hollis ? a recent convert from Cardinals ? broke away several times to put pressure on the Swallows goal. And while her work didn?t pay off in the first half, it was instrumental in the second as she confidently joined forced with Simmons to rack up two further goals.

Their first successful pairing ended with Simmons notching the oddest goal of the day ? her shot went right into the Swallows ?keeper, who was lying on the ground, but rolled over her and into the net.

Then Hollis slotted the ball to Simmons just as the ?keeper had been drawn out of the net, taking the score to 5-2.

Both teams fought hard in the final minutes of the match but it was Ravens? day.

The win put them in a tie for first place in the A league with Swallows and Bluebirds ? each with nine points and records of three wins and one loss. Canaries follow with six points, Cardinals with three and Swifts remain winless at the bottom.

In the B league, however, Swifts stand solidly at the top on 12 points, followed by Ravens and Cards ? tied at ten points each ? Swallows with seven, Wildcats with three, Bluebirds with one and Canaries with no points.

In weekend men?s play, Chameleons swamped a young and short-handed Panthers squad 17-0, Stevie Moreton earning a double hat-trick.

Upstarts narrowly edged out Rebels 1-0.

Chameleons sit at the top of the men?s table with nine points, followed by Upstarts with seven, Police with four, Rebels with three and Panthers with none.