It was a fantastic day of hocket on Saturday, with both the men’s and women’s first teams welcoming their opposition to Smallbrook, with the women up first against Salisbury.
It took a while for the Island side to settle. Messy passes and ill attempt at forcing the ball through the middle gave Salisbury the opportunity to attack, however they were thwarted by the Island’s defence.
The tables turned after a stunning run saw Sarah Shaw take a shot on goal, which rebounded for Katy Ednay to put away. Half-time came which allowed the island women to reset and display a much higher standard of hockey in the second half. After a well-worked move down the right-wing, Jaimie Payne sent a beautiful cross towards goal. A slight touch by Katy Ednay saw the ball land cleanly in front of Lola Marfleet to put the island side 2-0 up. Cracking far post play.
Despite every effort by both teams and a flurry of short corners, there was no addition to the scoreline.
Final score: Isle of Wight 2 – Salisbury 0. Goals from Katy Ednay (1), Lola Marfleet (1).
Next up came the men’s first team against Hamble. Clinical play by forwards Adam Payne and Tom Turney saw many goals drilled past Hamble very early on. Exemplary midfield and defence from the island side; including deadly accuracy from Aaron Hoare; saw the intensity of the island’s attack increase and Hamble playing a very defensive game.
Steven Woodford, Alex Breach and Ed Turney also made the score sheet after some excellent solo efforts. A real team performance and four wins from four games pushes the IOW men’s first eleven comfortably towards the top-end of their table.
Final score Isle of Wight 15 – Hamble 0. Goals from Adam Payne (5), Tom Turney (5), Aaron Hoare (2), Ed Turney (1), Steven Woodford (1), Alex Breach (1).
Heading away to Winchester, the women’s second eleven faced West Meon. A combination of an early start and stressful travel saw West Meon take the game’s lead. This seemed to wake the island side up and their attacking pressure commenced with some skilful midfield runs.
Persistence paid off and after a number of short corners, the island converted after an initial shot rebounded off the keeper straight back to Aly Townend for a first-time strike into the bottom left-hand corner. With the honours even at half-time hopes were high for the island side but, despite some great attacking play, they were unable to find the back of the net. Sadly, West Meon were more fortunate and took the lead with a controversial shot. Valiant defending from the island kept the opposition away from goal until the game’s end.
Final score West Meon 2 – Isle of Wight 1. Goals from Aly Townend (1).
