FA WPL Northern Division leaders Derby County saw their lead at the top of the table cut after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Loughborough Foxes.
Both Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers made up ground on the Ewes with wins at home, and while Derby remain two points ahead of Forest they have also played one game more than their rivals.
FA Women's Premier League
Northern Division
Blackburn Rovers 4-2 Huddersfield Town
Derby County 0-0 Loughborough Foxes
Newcastle United 0-5 Preston North End
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Nuneaton Town
Stoke City 1-3 Bradford City
Guiseley AFC Vixens P-P Sporting Club Albion
Forest found themselves 2-0 up by the break at home to Nuneaton Town. Shannon Weston went close early on with a long-range effort, before Natasha Meade smacked in an unstoppable effort to put her side ahead.
Andi Bell doubled her side’s advantage with a header from Demi Greenan’s cross eight minutes later, but then Nuneaton found their feet and forced Nottingham stopper Vanessa Kinnerley into several smart saves.
Annabel McKechnie should have made the scoreline more convincing late on, as twice she saw shots on goal blocked, while Bell also shot wide.
Blackburn rose to third with a 4-2 victory over Huddersfield, despite having Sophie Jones sent off late on.
Jones gave Rovers the lead after 20 minutes, and after Huddersfield had equalised before the interval, Alisha Johnson’s double after the break saw her side into a 3-1 advantage.
Lynda Shepherd then sealed the win with a fourth, but Town did pull another back through Emily Heckler to force a nervous final 10 minutes for the hosts.
Meanwhile, Bradford City are just a point behind Stoke City in the middle of the table, after coming from behind to beat the Potters 3-1 away – Hannah Campbell, Rosie McDonnell and Sarah Danby scoring one apiece for the Bantams.
Preston ran out comfortable winners away at Newcastle, with Lagan Makin getting the first on 11 minutes and Yasmine Swarbrick doubling the lead shortly before the interval.
Danielle Young lobbed in the third from 25 yards, Chelsea Flanagan scored with a deflected effort and Makin rounded off the rout and made it 5-0 to the visitors.
Guiseley AFC Vixens' clash with Sporting Club Albion was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
