Long Sutton Hockey Club round-up
Promotion is within touching distance for Long Sutton Hockey Club ahead of their final game of the season on Saturday.
The men's first team travel to face Cambridge City 4ths knowing any points gained will mean promotion is secured to Division One North of the East League.
The Greens are already guaranteed second spot in Division 2NW but need to better the points return of Division 2NE runners-up Ipswich and East Suffolk.
While Sutton were 8-1 home winners over March Town on Saturday, Ipswich were held to a 2-2 draw at University of East Anglia.
That leaves the Suffolk club on 46 points with one match remaining, three less than Long Sutton who also have a far superior goal difference ahead of their season finale.
The game on Saturday began with Sutton on top for the majority of the first half.
Plenty of chances came and went for Sutton against a changed March side as Josh Baker, Dan Batten, Josh Fyson and Frazer Watt all came close.
It was to be Baker to grab the first as a ball over the top from Fyson was perfect for him to run onto into the right side of the circle and volley home despite pressure from behind.
One soon became two with a perfect training ground penalty corner routine as Fyson flicked onto the awaiting backhand of Baker who need only watch the ball fly into the netting for the second.
The defence of Dan Oldfield, Michael Donaghy, Fyson and Luke Proctor were near perfect throughout with James Cliff behind them and they comfortably saw out the half.
Sutton began the second half much like the first. There were plenty of chances going forward and the midfield of Jimmy Harrison, Will Taylor, Dom Ibrahim and Sam Gray were beginning to gell and create plentiful chances.
A quality line ball from Gray found Baker who headed one-on-one with the keeper, rounded him to the right but was taken down from behind and, despite scoring from the floor, was awarded a flick. Baker stepped up and completed the hat-trick.
Little more than a minute or so later, a brilliant midfield transition from Batten saw a quick counter fall to Baker at the top of the D to fire home on the backhand.
Sutton were firing on all cylinders now and the scoreline only looked like getting worse for the travelling side.
Around the 20 minute mark in the half, Baker turned over the ball just outside the 23 and embarked on a mazy run which ended with him once again slotting home from the top of the circle on his backhand.
Many member of the crowd thought they had just seen goal of the day but Batten had different ideas.
An inch perfect ball over the top from Fyson found Batten who after only once bounce produced the single best touch of the game to manoeuvre the ball round the keeper and into the goal, under pressure from the man in the pads and a defender behind.
Batten wasn't done there, however, as he latched onto a Baker cross with possibly the second best touch of the game as he flicked the ball tidily into the bottom right.
Sutton were flying but hopes of a clean sheet were dashed when a drag flick down the centre of the goal made its way in.
Sutton were keen to have the final word though as brilliant work from the midfield was finished off by Ellis at the back post to claim the eighth of the day.
Long Sutton 2nds saw their promotion hopes ended after a 4-2 defeat against Cambridge University 3rds on Saturday.
The loss in their final game of the Division 3NW season means Sutton have finished third in a three-team title race behind Wisbech 2nds and Cambridge South 3rds.
From the off, Sutton were pressed hard on Saturday with the back four of Ben Hales, Tom Baguley, Stef Fox and Simon Clarke having to work hard to overcome the full press.
Edmund White and McKenzie East helped cause some chaos of their own with Luke Jackson, Dan Plant, Eddie Hales, Alex Canham and James Collingwood-Smith all rotating around and keeping the high intensity up as long as they could.
In fact, Sutton would open the scoring, with their new found deadliness from short corners - with some good work from East leading to a back post tap-in by White to take the lead after 20 minutes.
Some additional chances fell to Sutton, but the card that Plant received halted them for a while, and Cambridge Uni came back into the game - forcing some good saves from Alfie Braginton in goal leaving the game in the balance at 1-0 at half time.
The start of the second half brought an increase in intensity from Uni boys and some cracks started to show in the otherwise impervious defence of Sutton.
The case was not helped when Jackson had to come off early in the half - the fractured rib he sustained last week clearly proving too much but commendation needs to be made to still play as much as he could in that state.
As such, the legs started to wane on all of the Sutton players, and the number difference started to rear its ugly head.
From a lucky equaliser, suddenly the floodgates opened and one very quickly became two with a very well worked team goal.
East fancied a little break with a green card and to be fair Cambridge didn't score while he was off the field before they made it 3-1 and then 4-1 shortly after.
Despite the wind being fully out of the Sutton sails, Canham had an acrobatic effort sail just over the bar before a last minute short corner was won where Fox was slipped the ball and the finish was emphatic.
The final whistle blew and, while Sutton immediately felt disappointed about missing out on promotion, they also have the knowledge that the season was in the end a very successful one and one that has built upon good performances to generate a really good team spirit and a sense of togetherness.
A goal from Adam Croxford secured victory for the men's third team in their 1-0 win against City of Peterborough 7ths.
The victory moved them into seventh spot in Division 5NW with one match remaining.
Long Sutton Ladies 2nds capped an excellent season in Division 5NW with a 3-0 away success at City of Peterborough 5ths.
Annabelle Giles scored twice with Katie Whittaker also on target for the Greens who finished in fourth place.
Despite only having 11 players available, Sutton pushed the ball into Peterborough's half and stayed there for most of the first period.
The midfield of Emma Grosvenor, Whittaker, Lillie Tegerdine and Aimee Betts all worked as a unit as the opening half finished goalless.
Long Sutton soon found their stride again after the break and Giles rounded off a great run with the opening goal.
They continued to make some great runs and were awarded an attacking short corner which Whittaker managed to get on the end of for the second goal.
The scoring was then completed after another great run and a few passes from Giles' stick.