Long Sutton Hockey Club round-up

Long Sutton's first team bounced back from last week's defeat to remain among the front-runners in Division 2NW of the East League after a 7-2 home win over Ely City on Saturday.

The game started well with a long period of Sutton dominance but it still remained goalless after the first 15 minutes.

However, the first goal did arrive through Josh Fyson as a drag flick was deflected into the goal by an Ely player.

This got Sutton going a little more and they started to bang on the door.

A quick turnover from McKenzie East inside the opposition D fell for Josh Baker to strike on his backhand to double the lead for the Greens.

Shortly after, a mazy run from Sam Gray down the left flank ended with a perfect through ball to Baker who unleashed first time on his backhand once more to make it 3-0.

The half was petering out but Ely snatched a goal back just before the interval whistle to make it 3-1.

The second period started similar to the first with Sutton spending some time looking for the first goal of the half.

A counter attack after a turnover in the home D resulted in a sideline ball that was worked well across the top of the D for the awaiting Fyson to smash the ball into the goal to increase the scoreline to 4-1.

However, Ely weren't done there and once again kept their noses in the game with a second goal.

But Sutton soon restored their four-goal advantage as Olly Taylor tapped home after a long run through the D from Baker. From here the game looked just about done for the home side but they still wanted more.

A long ball down the right flank was perfect for Baker to latch onto in the D as he cut inside and made it a hat-trick on his backhand.

As the game slowly came to a close, East was keen to get in on the action and he scored probably the best individual goal of the lot after rounding three Ely players and finishing cleverly into the bottom right corner.

Sutton now face a crucial clash at second-placed March on Saturday.

Long Sutton 2nds picked up where they left off in last week's impressive win at Cambridge South with a six-goal home victory over Cambridge Nomads 2nds.

They took just five minutes to break the deadlock as Luke Jackson found Stef Fox on the overlap and he won a short corner that was then duly dispatched on the rebound by Daniel Batten to open the men in green's account.

The lead was doubled after 10 minutes as the ball fell to Jackson out wide and he rocketed it into the D where Alex Canham was ahead of his marker to guide the ball into the back of the net.

The second goal seemed to wake Nomads up a bit as they started to prod and probe forward, however, all attacks were easily dealt with by the stalwart defence of Alfie Braginton, Ben Hales, Tom Baguley, Si Clarke and Fox.

Sutton then upped ante as the half drew to a close as neat work between the White brothers in the middle of the park saw Will dance around a defender or two before finishing strongly to open his account for the year and set up a healthy three-goal gap.

This quickly became four when, after Jackson once again found Canham in the D, he slotted the finish through the keeper's legs to extend the lead further.

The tempo slowed a touch in the second half as the game became less about scoring and more about control.

Eddie Hales kept up his smart running and hold up play while Troy Croxford played in five different positions in one game by filling in for the injured Clarke.

Sutton never looked in trouble during the half with the one foray up into their half being saved by Braginton.

Chances still came and went and it was no surprise when Jackson got his fourth assist of the day by sliding a lovely ball through to Batten to score.

With just a few minutes left, Canham turned provider for man of the match Batten who ran out wide, turned his defender inside out and slotted into the far corner to complete his hat-trick and leave the score at 6-0 to the good.

Sutton will now enjoy an extra day's rest before picking up sticks on Sunday to face their third Cambridge side in a row in what promises to be a good battle against a strong University side, hoping to maintain their three-point lead at the top of the table.

The thirds were involved in a high-scoring 6-6 draw with Ely City 3rds as Andrew Shore (two), Jack Bragington (two), James Collingwood and Daniel Simpson scored their goals.

The ladies first team were 1-0 winners against Spalding with Hannah Baker scoring the crucial goal.