In-form Spalding 1st are up to third in East Men’s Hockey League Division One after beating rivals Bourne/Deeping 1st 6-4 at Glen Park on Saturday.
It’s now three wins on the trot for Spalding Hockey Club’s premier side – but in truth it wasn’t as comfortable as it could have been.
Connor Allen looked to have put them in complete control with a first-half hat-trick fresh off the back of Henry Temple-Baxter’s opener – making it 4-0 at half time.
Both Harry Vickers and Richard Price spent time in the sin bin before Bourne/Deeping pulled two back.
That sparked Spalding back into life and they extended their lead through Allen’s fourth and a Stuart Cunnington drag flick.
Two goals from the visitors before the close made life a little harder for Spalding, but the win was never really in doubt.
Up in Premier B, Long Sutton 1st were incredibly unfortunate to lose 2-1 at home to leaders Letchworth.
Tom Baguley’s early trip to the sin bin allowed the away side to go ahead – and that soon became 2-0 when a heroic Ashley Taylor attempt at a save just failed to stop the ball crossing the line.
The ball of the match from Josh Fyson allowed Ben Shore to pull one back before the break, but Sutton failed to make their dominance pay in the second period. There was a moment of controversy when Taylor thought he’d levelled, but the umpire ruled it out and Sutton were forced to take a second defeat of the season on the chin.
In Division 3NW, Spalding 2nd earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Cambs South.
On a difficult pitch, hosts South took an early lead as Spalding struggled to find their feet despite winning a few short corners.
However, an individual moment of brilliance from Joe Higgins saw him brilliantly beat two defenders round the keeper and smash in from a tight angle to secure a share of the spoils.
In the same division, Long Sutton 2nd were handed a heavy 6-1 hiding by perennial rivals Bourne/Deeping 2nd.
Having fallen behind, Sutton hit back when an excellent ball from defence by Ed White found Alex Canham, who then played it through to Michael Donaghy to score with a delightful reverse stick finish.
That was as good as it got for the visitors, though, as Bourne/Deeping went 3-1 ahead at half time and extended that by three further goals before the close.
Elsewhere, Spalding 3rd won an eight-goal thriller against Cambs South 2nd 5-3 to go third in Division 4NW.
It was 2-2 at half time with Glen Perkins and Steve Rogers scoring for Spalding, before Perkins grabbed his second to put this hosts ahead early in the second half. Rogers added another to put Spalding 4-2 up, only for Cambs to hit back.
There was to be no comeback, though, as Sam Sly played a lovely cross in for Joe Rogers, who notched with a terrific reverse stick shot.
Spalding 4th had a bad day at the office in Division 5NW. They lost 3-0 at Bourne/Deeping 4th.
It was a similar story for Long Sutton 3rd in the same division as they went down 3-1 against Cambs South 3rd.
It all started so well for Sutton thanks to a short corner strike from John Sullivan. But they shipped two short corners and a goal from open play to fall 3-1 down before the break – and never recovered.
In Division 6NW (N), a Pavel Saponenko strike wasn’t enough to stop Long Sutton 4th going down 3-1 against COP 9th, while winless Spalding 5th were dispatched 4-0 at Leadenham 2nd and stay in the bottom two.
East Men’s League fxitures (Saturday, October 8)
Premier B – COP 2nd v Long Sutton 1st (1pm).
D1 – St Ives 1st v Spalding 1st (2pm).
D3NW – Spalding 2 v Cambs City 4th (12.30pm); Long Sutton 2nd v COP 5th (2.30pm).
D4NW – Cambs Vets v Spalding 3rd (1.30pm).
D5NW – Spalding 4th v Cambs City 5th (2pm); Horncastle 2nd v Long Sutton 3rd (2pm).
D6NW (N) – Bourne/Deeping 5th v Long Sutton 4th (3.30pm); Louth 2nd v Spalding 5th (1pm).
