Spalding Men’s 1s 3
Bury St Edmunds 1s 1
Goals: Stu Cunnington, Tom Amess, Jacob Baker
Spalding looked to kick start their season with three points with another home fixture at Glen Park.
Following last week’s narrow loss, Spalding flew out of the traps and within two minutes, some free flowing passing saw a penalty corner awarded.
Stu Cunnington expertly finished into the corner to give the home team the lead.
Spalding went 2-0 up after six minutes following another stunning team move that opened up the Bury defence, and sensational play from Joe Rogers and Jacob Baker created an opening for a sliding Tom Amess to open his account for the season and double the lead.
The hosts continued to probe the Bury defence and won another penalty corner after 21 minutes.
A quick thinking routine saw the ball fall to Baker who finished to give Spalding a 3-0 lead.
Spalding saw out the half comfortably.
The second half struggled to get going with the same tempo.
Spalding won several penalty corners but found the Bury keeper in fine form.
A rare lapse in concentration allowed Bury a penalty corner which Spalding failed to clear and a Bury player tapped it in.
Oscar Haunch in goal was alert when needed to snuff out any further threat, allowing the hosts to see the game out to claim their first win since returning to Division 1.
Wisbech Town 2s 4
Spalding Men’s 2s 2
Goals: Joe Maltby, Laurence Smith-Hughes
Spalding started slowly and conceded the first goal to a clean strike.
They fought back and drew level when Lawrence Smith-Hughes scored with a tap in.
Joe Maltby then scored a well-taken reverse to go into the break 2-1 up.
In the second half, Spalding struggled and conceded a blatant foot allowing the hosts to equalise.
Wisbech then upped the tempo and scored a lovely flick to go 3-2 up.
After Smith-Hughes received a green card, Spalding struggled to regroup with Wisbech capitalising on the counterattack to wrap up the points with their fourth goal and a 4-2 win.
Spalding Men’s 3s 4
St Neots 2s 1
Goals: Dylan Hind (3), Tim Maltby
Spalding Men’s 3s achieved a solid first victory against St Neots 2s to get their first points on the board back at Glen Park.
Spalding’s defence played a strong role throughout to slow the St Neots’ attack, especially in the first ten minutes, where they came under a lot of pressure. The only goal conceded was an unfortunate penalty corner in the second half.
In goal, Rob Callaby also worked well to ensure that no further breakthroughs were made.
Dylan Hind had an outstanding performance in midfield, creating chances and bagging himself a hat-trick, therefore, earning himself man of the match.
Hind was ably supported by the Spalding midfield to ensure constant pressure on the visiting team.
Tim Maltby picked up Spalding’s second goal amongst Hind’s treble to ensure there was no way back for St Neots.
City of Peterborough 7s 2 Spalding Men’s 4s 1
Goal: Will Clark
Spalding Men’s 4s travelled to City of Peterborough 7s and got off to a flying start.
Spalding took an early lead when Will Clark found the back of the net.
The team settled well, moving the ball around confidently and creating further chances.
At the other end, Marcus Drury and Alistair Main formed a solid partnership in defence, dealing well with Peterborough’s attacking threats and helping Spalding preserve their lead.
Peterborough came out after the break with renewed determination and began to put Spalding under sustained pressure.
Their attacking play kept the Spalding defence busy, with the back line having to deal with repeated entries into the circle.
The continued pressure eventually resulted in a series of short corners.
Peterborough made two of those opportunities count, converting from short corners to take a 2-1 lead.
Spalding continued to battle and looked for an opening to level the score, but Peterborough’s defence stood firm.
Credit goes to Samuel Willerton, who stepped in at short notice to take on the goalkeeper’s role.
Cambridge Nomads 2s 0 Spalding Ladies’ 1s 10
Goals: Calypso Priestley (4), Kelly Cooper (3), Lauren Spenceley (2), Karen Timby.
Spalding Hockey Club Ladies 1s got their season off to a fantastic start with a convincing 10-0 victory over Cambridge Nomads 2s.
Spalding started brightly and quickly put pressure on the Nomads’ defence, opening the scoring after just seven minutes.
A lovely square pass from the left of the D found Kelly Cooper, who made no mistake with the finish.
Cooper doubled the lead in the 18th minute, with a pass from Calypso Priestley taking a deflection off a defender before finding its way past the goalkeeper.
Just three minutes later, Spalding added a third. Amy Naylor played the ball across the D and Cooper was once again on hand to tap in at the post to complete her hat-trick.
The pressure continued, and in the 25th minute Spalding were awarded a penalty corner.
A well-worked routine saw Karen Timby exchange passes with Roz Dennis, before receiving the ball back and firing home.
Two minutes later, Lauren Spenceley played a great ball across the D, allowing Priestley to produce a lovely reverse-stick finish for number five.
Spalding continued to dominate possession, at 31 minutes, a free hit to the left of the D followed some excellent persistence from Priestley and was finished in front of the goalkeeper by Spenceley.
The visitors headed into the break seven up, as just two minutes later, Naylor led a quick transition before finding Poppy Hooker, whose slap was deflected past the goalkeeper by Spenceley.
Spalding continued to push forward in the second half and added an eighth goal in the 40th minute.
A penalty corner rebound fell kindly to Priestley, who tapped home from Timby’s strike.
Despite renewed pressure in the second half from Cambridge, Spalding kept their composure controlling the game and keeping possession.
Priestley then added another in the 48th minute, finishing well after a strong shot from Lauren Harvey.
The scoring was completed in the 55th minute, Honor Pearson took a shot from the right, which was expertly tapped in by Priestley to bring her tally to four.
Spalding Ladies 2s 1
Cambridge City 7s 3
Goal: Chloe Preston
Spalding Ladies 2s put in a determined performance against an experienced Cambridge City 7s but were ultimately beaten 3-1.
City took the lead after 29 minutes when their forward broke through one-on-one with the goalkeeper and calmly finished.
The home team then extended their advantage, scoring in the 43rd minute to put Spalding 2-0 down.
Spalding responded well and were rewarded in the 55th minute with a well-worked goal. Jessica Pilgrim produced an excellent run down the left flank before delivering the ball into the circle, where Chloe Preston finished neatly to reduce the deficit.
Cambridge City restored their two-goal cushion in the 69th minute. Spalding were unable to fully clear the danger and the ball fell kindly for the visitors and slipped past goalkeeper Anya Knights.
Despite the result, Spalding showed plenty of character throughout the match and were rewarded with a well-taken team goal, but Cambridge City proved clinical in key moments to secure the victory.
Emily Wright was Player of the Match.
