Leadenham Hockey Club seconds lose only second game of season

Alford Men's 1st 8

Leadenham Men's 2nd 1

With most of Lincolnshire suffering from sub-zero temperatures, nearly all league action was called off with frozen pitches at the weekend, except for sunny Skegness where temperatures were a balmy three degrees.

Leadenham Men's second team duly travelled to the coastal town in high spirits but with several changes to the usual line-up. A midweek injury to the influential Nick Mountain coupled with the absence of the solid Will Leadenham caused a reshuffle in the back line and midfield.

Unfortunately, Leadenham were soon overwhelmed by a strong Alford team who could comfortably be playing several divisions higher based on their performance on Saturday. A few talented individuals managed to put any hopes of Leadenham upsetting the league leaders to rest with some well-taken goals.

The silver lining, however, was the standout performance of young goalkeeper Evan Burrows who saved the scoreline from looking like a rugby game.

An abject first half ended 6-0 and prompted a thoughtful team talk from captain Gaz Kinton who made some changes for the second half and subbed himself off.

The performance was much better after this and striker Neil Ireland finished with aplomb to pull one back, with a strike from the top of the D into the bottom left corner.

However, the play quickly ended up back in Leadenham's half, and Mark Wrigley was unable to lay a finger on his opposite man who raced away and scored Alford's seventh.

The game ended 8-1, although it is only the second defeat of the season for this Leadenham squad who now sit third in the league.

Leadenham: E. Burrows (gk), Gaz Kirton (c), M. Wrigley, N. Dunn, C. Gretton, S. Gretton, N. Ireland, J. Ireland, S. Miles, C. Topham, L. Doherty, A. Mitchell, D. Case, G. Swindells.