Spalding Ladies’ 3rd hockey team snatched victory in a close game against St Neots 3rd at the weekend.
The ladies’ 3rds started strongly against an experienced St Neots side and attacked from the whistle.
Man of the match Emily Wright persistently used her speed and put crosses in but some excellent keeping from St Neots denied Spalding a goal.
After ten minutes, Spalding were able to capitalise after a scramble in front of goal led to AJ Taplin slamming home her first of the day.
Spalding were caught out just before half time when St Neots broke through Spalding’s defence to level the score.
This was the only time Spalding’s keeper saw the ball as Leanne Isaac-Pick, Lisa Ceaser, Terri Bateman and Honor Pearson did an excellent job of keeping the ball out of their 23.
Spalding came out confidently in the second half knowing their youth, experience and squad of 16 would be to their advantage.
They weren’t wrong and as St Neots tired, Spalding attacked relentlessly. Their second goal came when Sam Foston manoeuvred round four players and slipped it to Taplin who found the back of the net for her second.
Spalding were on a roll and the midfield worked tirelessly to get the ball to the forwards and with ten minutes to go a strong ball in once again found Taplin, who out skilled the final defender on the backline and reverse flicked in to complete her hat trick.
In the final moments Sophie Wilson crossed the ball to Vicky Worrall, who launched onto the ball to finish on her reverse into the corner of the goal for her first of the season.
St Ives 2nd 3
Spalding Ladies’ 2nd 1
Goals: Amy Naylor
St Ives were awarded five short corners in the first 15 minutes; the defence held strong for the first three with some good saves, but St Ives scored their first goal, shortly followed by their second from a further short.
With some good textbook hockey from Maisie Foden and Pippa Bembridge, the ball was taken up the pitch but didn’t result in a goal.
A moment of madness from Sam Maltby resulted in another goal conceded.
After a change in formation for the second half, Spalding dominated the rest of the match with play that unsettled St Ives.
With some great cohesive play from Zoe Moore, Erin McMurray and Tabitha Dunnett, Naylor found herself in the right position to deflect the ball into the goal.
Bourne Deeping 2nd 1
Spalding Men’s 2nd 5
Goals: Aaron Scholes (2), Tim Maltby (2), Dan Azzopardi
Spalding men’s 2nds travelled to Bourne Deeping hoping to continue their good form.
Without their regular keeper, Oscar Haunch made his 2nd team debut and was solid between the posts.
The game did not start well for Spalding as they struggled to retain possession and turned over the ball cheaply at times.
A positive team talk spurred Spalding into action in the second half and they found themselves two up after five minutes with Scholes finishing neatly after a short corner and Azzopardi slotting home at the back post.
Spalding never looked back and continued to press high up the pitch and scored another through Scholes after good team play.
Bourne Deeping pulled one back but were never going to get back on level terms and two more goals were added by Maltby to make the final score 5-1.
Spalding Men’s 3rd 7
St Neots 3rd 0
Goals: Graeme Matthews, Glenn Richardson (3), Jack Martin, Tom Pilgrim, Harry Walsh
Spalding Men’s 3rd team welcomed St Neots 3rd to Glen Park.
Within the first seven minutes Spalding had already got a goal from Matthews.
They found the net again after 25 and 31 minutes with Richardson scoring both.
Spalding took a 3-0 lead into half time.
The second half didn’t disappoint with Spalding performing well and being awarded a penalty stroke with Richardson being on the scorecard again.
Goals followed from Martin before Pilgrim set himself up with an excellent first touch for a well-placed shot from the edge of the D.
The final goal was Spalding once again and a long awaited one from Walsh who eagerly awaited the ball to then slap it in.
Other results: St Neots 4th 1 Spalding Men’s 4th 0; Spalding Men’s 1st 3 Saffron Walden 1st 6.
