Hockey round-up
Leighton Buzzard Men’s 1sts 4
Amersham and Chalfont Men’s 2nds 2
AFTER last weekend’s last minute winner against Henley, Leighton looked to keep hold of their unbeaten record in their new division as they hosted Amersham & Chalfont 2nds.
The game started frantically, with some end-to-end action. And when Dan Edward’s driving run from defence won Leighton a penalty corner, the Buzzards made sure they took their chance when Nick Marshall slammed a perfect ball into David Fry who deflected the ball past the keeper and his defenders.
Leighton put Amersham to the sword and continued to push, but to no avail. The visitors looked to be a route one side and eventually Leighton’s unconverted chances came back to haunt them with Amersham converting a half chance past Leighton keeper Stuart McDonald.
Leighton weren’t behind for long and went route one themselves – Steve Trivett with a massive hit into the area and Tristan Hardy was on hand to redirect the ball past the Amersham keeper just before half time.
The second half started well for Leighton but their sloppy passing kept them from controlling the game. However, when Clive Warncken drove down Amersham’s back line and pulled the ball back out to man of the match James Lee, he struck the ball with something special to put Leighton 3-1 ahead.
Amersham would once again respond almost instantly with a tidy finish into the bottom corner to reduce the deficit to one again at 3-2.
Amersham continued to pile the pressure on, but the Buzzards were keeping them on their toes with a number of dangerous counter-attacks.
And their dangerous edge paid off again as Tommy Lakens scored to seal the win for Leighton with a fantastic strike.
Leighton continued to ride some pressure from Amersham, narrowly missing a chance late on to set up a tense finish.
Leighton rolled out 4-2 winners in the end, keeping their unbeaten streak intact and sitting second in the table having only dropped two points all season.
This weekend they host fellow unbeaten side Sonning 2nd who only trail Buzzards on goal difference.
Leighton Buzzard Men’s 2nds 2
Ashford Men’s 3rds 0
LEIGHTON Buzzard went to the top of the table courtesy of a well-earned 2-0 victory over Ashford.
They travelled to Ashford hoping to maintain their unbeaten streak this season and they didn’t disappoint – much to the delight of their travelling.
The slender two-goal margin really doesn’t do justice to the total domination displayed in the game with Ashford failing to muster a single shot on goal in either half.
During the first half, Buzzards pressed well, with the midfield creating a hatful of decent goal scoring opportunities that all went begging, including some open goals and several penalty corners that failed to threaten the Ashford backboard.
The second half continued in much the same fashion with lots more chances, including hitting a post, more open goals that were not converted and some fantastic saves from the Ashford keeper.
It took until the last 10 minutes before the deadlock was finally broken, with Dave Jackson slotting home at the back post following on from some good build-up play in midfield with Damien Glendenning and Alex Wells deserving a mention for their constant threat from the wings.
The strike was met with enormous relief throughout, but it didn’t prevent the team from pushing for a second goal. And only minutes later they scored it when Gordon Browne sealed the result having forced his way past the opposition defence and his own team-mates to smash the ball home from a tight angle.
The 2nds now stand top of the league having won all of their six fixtures to date.
Man of the match was Damien Glendenning for a fine display out of his usual position.
Leighton Buzzard Men’s 3rds 14
Eastcote Men’s 8ths 0
TO the non-hockey playing reader or indeed spectator, the score would suggest this was an overwhelmingly one-sided match. It was.
Leighton pressed from the off and they were one up in a couple of minutes with a well worked goal.
For the next 15 minutes Eastcote hung on despite repeated attacks on their goal with Leighton using both wings cleverly to put shots into the centre.
However, with changes to the attacking line-up part the way through the first half the floodgates began to open with three further goals coming in quick succession.
The midfield trio of Stu Retford, Dave Hooker and James Fielden were instrumental in ensuring that the attackers were supplied with passes and that the ball remained in Eastcote’s half. The first half ended with Leighton 4-0 up.
The second half continued the same as the first half ended with continuous pressure on the Eastcote goal which was only relieved by the occasional foray into Leighton’s half – most of these being superbly cut out by the centre back pairing of Will Riley and Ed Skinner.
Their control over this part of the pitch meant that the backs – Chris Walter, Pete Marshall and Antony Puttock – could go raiding deep into Eastcote territory.
The Leighton pressure continued to come, the opposition cracked, and the scoreline increased to 10-0 in a very short space of time in the middle of the second half, with all the forwards contributing.
With only a minute or so remaining and the score at 14-0, Eastcote didn’t let their heads drop and continued to fight, forcing Leighton’s goalkeeper into action for the only time in the match to save a penalty corner.
It was a great team effort with all the squad working flat out to produce a victory. Goal scorers: Matt Rust (5) Ian Drayner (3) Ben Smith (2) Stu Retford, Alex Brindle, James Fielden and one own goal.
Men of the Match were Dave Hooker and Ed Skinner.
Leighton Buzzard Men’s 4ths 3
Amersham & Chalfont Men’s 5ths 3
FROM the start the Fledglings were slightly intimidated against an Amersham side made up of eight players from higher leagues and the first half was not magical.
With several key players missing for short corner routines, Fledglings failed to convert the few they were given and other than that chances in the first half weren’t bountiful.
Amersham scored one good goal and another from a scrappy short corner to make it 2-0 at half time.
But at half time the Fledglings overcame their pitfalls, improved their marking and communication and soon after the whistle were rewarded with a well worked goal for Man of the Match Sam Gale.
The Fledglings kept battling away and like a switch had been flicked, they were suddenly the better side, dominating over their opposition for most of the second half.
Later Jamie Griffiths got another goal with a Sam Gale assist, and although after that Amersham scored from another short corner, whatever other shots they had were dealt with by some great saves from keeper Jacob Bradding.
With 15 minutes to go Henry Silva played the ball to the near post for Harry Walshe to tap it in and then celebrate wildly.
The game showed a change of form for the Fledglings and the 3-3 draw was well received.