DEESIDE Ramblers will be without captain Matt Allen for the rest of the season after he injured his back.

The Ramblers returned after the Christmas break under the stewardship of stand-in skipper Graham Allwood on Saturday and travelled to face Brooklands.

They lost 3-1, with only Charlie Henry on target.

Allwood: “We played well for our first game back. We only lost due to some silly mistakes.”

Deeside Ramblers Ladies were more successful, seeing off hosts Poynton Ladies 2nds 3-1.

A welcome return from injury for both Roe Symms and Su Baird allowed experience and guile to triumph over youth and vitality.

The visitors opened the scoring after five minutes, Deb Kay weaving her way through the Poynton defence and setting up a volley for Kate Etherington who found the target.

Deeside scored again through a well-struck Rachel Dathan penalty corner.

Just after the break, Poynton took advantage of a lapse in concentration from Deeside and found themselves back in the game. They began to apply sustained pressure and eventually scored from a penalty corner.

On the back foot, Deeside dug deep and a slick one-two between Dathan and Nicky Roberts, followed by an incisive long range pass, isolated the Poynton defence and fed Claire Pearson, who smashed the ball home to seal a Deeside victory with seconds left on the clock.