Spalding Hockey Club round-up

Spalding men's third team battled brilliantly to snatch a deserved point off league leaders Cambridge City after a 4-4 draw on Saturday.

The Maroons made an unfortunate start with an early short corner being struck well and finding the bottom corner to put City ahead.

It was 2-0 around the 10-minute mark after a scrappy goal from a short corner which was dribbled in.

Spalding battled hard and reduced the deficit when Peter Wright scored with a precise short corner.

It was then an unfortunate green card for Lawrence Smith-Hughes which led to Spalding attempting to defend the rest of the half only to concede to another short corner a few minutes before the break.

A fourth goal followed which saw Spalding then produce the best hockey they have all season.

Reuben Rogers scored a composed yet lovely finish after rounding both the keeper and defender at once to slot the ball into the open goal.

It was then Spalding's turn to bundle the ball over the line with Ethan Worall scoring in an open goal after around 10 shots had hit the keeper's pads beforehand.

The equaliser then arrived as Ben Scholes scored off a beauty of a ball from Simon Goode who produced a defensive masterclass.

Good defending saw the last 10 minutes out and Spalding almost won it with Rogers going close to scoring again while Wright had the ball in the net from another short corner but the shot was just over the backboard.

Overall, it was a brilliant performance and result with the midfield being the stand out problem for Cambridge as Danny Wright and Tim Amess managed to keep the defence protected for large parts of the game.

The first team were unable to gain some valuable Division 1N points after a 4-1 defeat against UEA on Saturday.

The game got off to an explosive start with Spaldjng struggling to keep running with UEA and this led to multiple penalty corners to give the visitors an early lead.

Spalding showed great character to come back into the game and grew in confidence and won their own penalty corners, one of which was expertly finished by Stu Cunnington to make the game 1-1.

The first half continued to be end-to-end with chances and both keepers providing some quality saves.

UEA got their noses in front just before the break as a cruel deflection off a Spalding defender on a penalty corner fell to a striker who had the simple task of slotting it home.

Despite trailing going into the second half, Spalding continued to push and started brightly but were able to finish past the keeper.

UEA caught Spalding on the break and a miss-hit shot found its way into the bottom corner.

Spalding attempted to get back into the game but, despite the opposition receiving a yellow card. the Maroons' cutting edge was lacking.

As the game became more open, gaps were left and it was ex-Spalding player Tom Amess who finished off the scoring to seal three points for UEA.

Spalding seconds returned victorious from their trip to Cambridge South 4ths after a 3-2 success in a game where all of the goals came in the second half.

Both teams were evenly matched throughout the first half with Callum Fravigar receiving a green card just before the end of the opening period.

The second half began well for Spalding with Tom Pilgrim converting a short corner to put them ahead.

South came back with an instant reply to equalise and kept pushing to score a second goal for a 2-1 lead.

Spalding stayed strong and deservedly got back into the game with Pilgrim's second goal of the afternoon.

The Maroons pushed on from the equaliser to go in front with a goal from Lewis Burton to make it 3-2.

South applied lots of pressure in the last 10 minutes with Spalding down to 10 players twice with Brendan Atkin and Oliver Roy both getting green cards.

In the final minutes of the game, Spalding had to withstand multiple consecutive short corners to hold on to the win.

The fourth team battled to a 1-1 draw against their Bourne Deeping counterparts under the Glen Park floodlights.

In an important match for both teams, the result reflected a hard-fought encounter where both sides were determined to secure a valuable result.

The first half was tightly contested with Bourne Deeping taking the lead midway through after sustained pressure.

Despite some promising moments, Spalding entered half-time a goal down.

Spalding responded with renewed energy and intent after the break.

Defenders Sam Willerton and Alex Myland played key roles in breaking up Bourne Deeping's attacks and keeping their side in the game.

Midfielder Rafa Read worked tirelessly to drive the team forward and was a key figure in attack.

Spalding earned several short corners during the second half but were unable to convert them into goals.

Despite this, their persistence paid off when Dylan Hind pounced on a loose ball in the circle and delivered a precise finish to level the score.