ACCRINGTON Girls and Ladies FC Under 17s suffered spot kick heartache after losing to old rivals Readstone United in the North Valley League Final.

Accrington started brightly but paid the price for missing a string of early chances - including a penalty - as Readstone opened the scoring.

But they were on level terms early in the second half when Kerry Bamford and Adele Ward combined to set up Beth Hibbert who scored.

Readstone regained the lead but Accrington hit back again thanks to an individual effort from Sam Bailey then took the lead for the first time through Bamford. But with time ticking away, Readstone hit back to make it 3-3 then held their nerve to win 5-4 on spot kicks.