LEAGUE leaders Wella Bison Ladies kept on course for the Southern division title with a win over former leaders Oxford City.

The home side opened the scoring at 1:48 after a fine pass from defender Leah White saw Julie Saint apply the finish.

The begining of the second period saw Oxford ratchet up their effort, out-shooting the Bison by two-to-one but some superb netminding from Bison most valuable player Clare Millard kept the visitors at bay.

The exciting young Bison players broke the deadlock when a pass from Sam Vernon was forwarded by Leah White to Chrissie Newman, who slotted home for the second Bison goal.

The final period was full of drama as Oxford fought to get back into the match and a foul on Bison Emma Toose resulted in a penalty shot on goal by Newman.

A superb save denied Denise Taylor but, a few minutes later, she had her revenge. The Bison put the result beyond doubt when Julie Saint slotted home from assists by Newman and Natalie West.

The weekend before, Bison Ladies lost to Guildford Thunder 2-1 and then beat Streatham Storm 9-2, with five goals in 68 seconds.

Saint slotted home the opening goal from Lynsey Crame after just over a minute and Newman added a second at 3:24, from Crame and Sam Vernon.

The visitors hit back with two quick goals to tie the game at the first break.

The Bison came out revitalised in the second period and another early goal from Saint was followed by a devastating minute from the Wella-backed side as they tore the visitors apart with five quick goals, Saint, Newman, Carla Gregory and Vernon running riot, with assists from Julia Burns and Emma Toose.

The final goal came in the last period from Newman, assisted by Vernon.

Rookie Vernon ended the match with a goal and three assists. The night before, Guildford opened the scoring after just 13 seconds. In a lacklustre performance, the Bison equalised in the second period through Newman.

Both teams had chances with both netminders (Millard for the Bison and Katherine Robinson for Thunder) keeping the forwards at bay.

A goal in the last 15 seconds sealed the Bison fate, despite pulling their netminder.