Bradford Ladies came fourth in the Indoor National Hockey League.

The competition's second and final series of matches was played at Bradford's Richard Dunn Centre with all nine teams playing each other.

Bradford finished behind Old Loughtonians, Fyffes Leicester and Clifton.

Bradford suffered the loss of four key players through flu and a clash with an England training weekend.

But in their first games Bradford beat Wimbledon 5-2 and drew with Loughborough Students 3-3.

Bradford then met Clifton in a match both sides had to win to be sure of a top-three place.

The first half was tight but Clifton went into half-time 1-0 up. Then Bradford were hit by two key injuries and Clifton scored four goals in quick succession to win 5-0.

In the competition's first weekend at East Grinstead it was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Bradford.

They lost 5-4 to Woking with controversial umpiring decisions swaying the final score.

They were then beaten 6-3 by Old Loughtonians in another result against the run of play.

Bradford beat Leicester after romping into a 4-1 lead. But Leicester pulled back to 4-4 with three minutes to go before Bradford converted two penalty corners in the last minutes to secure a well-earned win.

Bradford's Charlie Fisher was among the leading scorers in the division and outstanding performances from Lindsey Inman, Sara Whitehouse and goalkeeper Lucille Kloasenbas gave Bradford an outside promotion chance due to a restructuring of the leagues.

But it is more likely that officials will promote the top three only and not relegate from the division above.

The final restructuring decision will be taken at an English Hockey Competitions committee meeting later this week.

This weekend Bradford have a friendly fixture against Doncaster as part of their preparation for the second round of the Outdoor National League.

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