Rampant Long Sutton 1st produced their best performance of the East Men’s Hockey League season so far on Saturday as they hammered St Ives 2nd 11-0 in Division Two North West.
The in-form Josh Fyson starred with a four-goal haul at the Peele Leisure Centre, while Josh Baker also bagged a hat-trick.
Daniel Batten (2), Luke Proctor and Tyler Hagan rounded off the rout for the men in green as they grabbed a third win of the season.
A well-worked move between Fyson, Batten and Baker saw Fyson net the first of the day, before Proctor fired in number two.
Two more Fyson strikes left Sutton four goals to the good at half-time – and they stepped on the gas after the interval.
Batten added the fifth, then Baker and Hagan got in on the act to put the result beyond doubt.
The chances kept coming, with two more Baker goals completing his treble and Batten netting a diving tap in.
Typically it was Fyson who got number 11, but the defence also took the plaudits for keeping a first clean sheet of the season.
Staying at this level, Spalding 2nd finally clinched their first win of the season at the eighth time of asking as they saw off City of Peterborough 4th 5-2.
After a goalless first half at Glen Park, Sam Sly, Tim Maltby, Steve Rogers, Harry Blackman and Daniel Plant all scored to given the team a massive boost.
Up in Division One North, Spalding 1st won a nine-goal thriller 5-4 at Bury St Edmunds 1st.
After losing two key defenders to hamstring problems early on, Spalding fell behind before Joe Rogers equalised from a penalty corner. Goal machine Stu Cunnington then added two lethal finishes from penalty corners to make it 3-1 at the half-time break.
A brilliant team goal finished by James Mayhew and assisted by George Halgarth extended Spalding’s lead, before some slack defending and lack of discipline saw the game turn and become 4-4.
A frantic end to the game followed and, with two minutes left, the ball fall to the stick of Cunnington – who rifled into the net to complete his hat-trick and seal a 5-4 victory.
Down in Division Four North West, Long Sutton 2nd returned to the top of the table with a 4-3 victory over title rivals City of Peterborough 6th.
A double from player-of-the-match Fraser Watt, an Alex Canham strike and a late Jeremy Watt winner gave Sutton a hugely important home triumph.
Also claiming an impressive victory in the same division were Spalding 4th, who saw off hosts St Neots 2nd 3-2 to go fourth.
Tiago Read, Willem Borst and, crucially, Ben Scholes late in the day got the goals to give Spalding the points.
In Division Five North West, Long Sutton 3rd blew a handsome lead as they were beaten 4-3 by City of Peterborough 7th.
A hat-trick from club legend Gary Hales had given Sutton a 3-1 advantage at half-time, but COP bossed the second half and netted three times to seal the win.
Spalding 5th, meanwhile, remain top of Division Six North West after being handed a 5-0 walkover win by opponents Cambridge Nomads 4th.
It’s now eight wins from as many games for them.
Saturday fixtures: Spalding 1st v Harleston Magpies 2nd (2pm); Cambs Uni 3rd v Long Sutton 1st (11am); Cambridge City over-45s v Spalding 2nd (11.30am); Spalding 4th v Kettering 3rd (3.30pm); Ely City 2nd v Long Sutton 2nd (2.30pm); Long Sutton 3rd v St Neots 3rd (1pm); COP 8th v Spalding 5th (TBC).
