Bolton Wanderers Women extended their unbeaten league run to 16 games on Sunday afternoon with a battling 1-1 draw with Penrith at the Dreams2Reality Stadium.
Jess Lightfoot's 22nd goal of the season put Wanderers ahead in the first half, but Charlotte Smith's second half header was enough to ensure the visitors took a point back home with them.
With the Mayor and Mayoress of Bolton in attendance on the day, the Whites made two changes to the Semi Final side victorious over Preston last time out, with Hannah Baldwin and Lightfoot returning to the starting line-up in place of Lexi Williams and Madison Hardman.
It was the first league encounter for Wanderers in a month since their triumph over Blackpool in early February, and welcomed second-placed Penrith in confident mood in a highly anticipated clash.
The visitors started quickly and created the first opportunity of the afternoon when Abbie Forster lined up an effort from long-range, but the strike didn't test Annabelle White in Wanderers' goal.
That triggered the home side into action and they carved out a golden chance to open the scoring when Millie Smith threaded a brilliant ball through to Eboni Bradshaw. The wing-back then squared it for Neishai Gordon to hit first-time, but Hope Lawson was quick to react and made a crucial save to deny her.
Wanderers were in an early groove and moments later, Faye Knox cut inside from the left-hand side and took aim from distance, but again, Lawson reacted well and was down well to make another excellent save down to her left to palm the effort away.
With the pressure on in the early stages, Wanderers' persistence paid off when they took the lead with a brilliant team goal.
A slick pass from Gordon found its way into Bradshaw, who in-turn then set up Lightfoot to control and make no mistake in finishing emphatically to give the Whites a deserved advantage.
With the goal behind them, Myles Smith's side continued to control possession as the first half wore on but struggled to carve out real goalscoring opportunities to assert their dominance on the scoreline.
This allowed Penrith to grow into the game towards the latter stages of the half and White had to be alert as half-time approached to smartly push away a driven free-kick into Wanderers' area that came through a number of bodies.
With 13 wins from their 16 games this season, Penrith carried threat all afternoon - emphasised inside he opening minute of the second half when Jodie English beat White to a loose ball and looked to be in to level the scores, but got her angles wrong on the strike and could only fire wide.
Encouraged by their strong start to the second half, Penrith continued to press and came close again in the 53rd minute when English latched onto a loose ball and found space to strike on the bounce from range, but the effort was always rising as it sailed over the bar.
The Whites tried to respond and Eleanor Seals was strong in the middle of the park to win possession back and drive down-field before shooting, but Lawson was safe behind the bouncing strike.
Then, Seals' starting central midfield partner Millie Smith kick started another flowing attacking move with a deft ball over the top for Bradshaw to chase down and looked to be in, but the Penrith 'keeper was quick to react to get down and claim.
With the advantage sitting at just one goal, Wanderers were always wary of their opponents - and after giving away a foul in a dangerous area - the hosts were punished.
Kayleigh Warton's delivery from the free-kick was good, and the ball found its way to the far post for Charlotte Smith to head home and level the scores.
Buoyed by their goal, the visitors quickly went in search of another and looked to be charging through on-goal, but skipper Katie Holt made an outstanding recovery tackle to deny English an opportunity.
As the game entered the final stages, Penrith thought they had their second as a goalmouth scramble was eventually turned into Wanderers' goal, but the referee had already blown for a foul in the build-up to hand the hosts a reprieve.
That gave Wanderers renewed energy, and they went in search of the winner themselves. Although the Whites were working themselves into a number of good areas, especially in wide areas, Penrith stood firm to what Bolton threw at them with resolute defending and strong goalkeeping by Lawson.
Despite doing all the pushing inside the closing moments, and with appeals for a handball inside the Penrith penalty area waved away, the score ended level as Wanderers added another valuable point to their tally - keeping their cushion at the top of the Division One North to six points over today's opponents.
Wanderers now face a run of four consecutive away games in the league, with Blackpool first up on Sunday 9th March, kick-off 2pm.
Wanderers: White (GK), Baldwin, M.Smith, Holt, Tyers, Bradshaw, Seals, Knox, Gordon, Lightfoot.
Subs: Ardin, Hardman, Barnes, Shone, L. Williams
Penrith: Lawson (GK), Harkness-Grant, Mason, Smith, McCormick, Fawkes, Robinson, Wharton, English, Forster, Gallagher
Subs: Dudson, Campbell, Ferguson
Report by Katherine Byrne. Pictures by Jake Horrocks.