Magpies surrendered top spot after a draw littered with controversial moments on Saturday.

Despite dominating the opening stages, Magpies could not convert a string of good chances and were punished by the home team at a short corner, as Katie Richards gave Old Loughtonians the lead on 24 minutes.

Magpies' cause was not helped as they had to play much of the first half with 10 players after a rash of cards among their forward line.

The visitors raised their performance in the second half to earn a deserved equaliser through Emma Lee-Smith on 41 minutes. The goal was eventually given after a lengthy discussion between the umpires.

Magpies then thought they had scored a winning goal from a free hit on the Old Loughts' 25. However, following a protest from the home side and another long discussion between the officials, the goal was disallowed and the scores remained level.

There was a further stoppage when Lee-Smith was shown a second yellow card – and subsequent red – which left Magpies to play the last 10 minutes of what was becoming a very lengthy match with 10 players.

In amongst all of this there were some good performances from Magpies' midfield players, while goalkeeper Megan Adams made several excellent saves.

Magpies drop down to second, with Sevenoaks replacing them at the top after their 5-2 win at Ipswich.