Long Sutton Hockey Club round-up
Long Sutton ended the 14-match winning streak of league leaders Wisbech with a superb victory on Saturday.
They overturned a two-goal deficit to run out 4-2 winners in the East League Division 2NW match at Peele Leisure Centre.
Sutton started well with a couple of early chances but nothing of note to cause Wisbech any serious threat.
The away side had their own chances too but James Cliff was strong between the sticks along with his defence of Dan Oldfield, Josh Fyson, Michael Donaghy and Luke Proctor.
The deadlock was broken by Wisbech midway through the first half and they added a second goal shortly afterwards.
Sutton had the wind knocked out of them slightly, being in a slightly unfamiliar position of late, but they reminded themselves of their new 100 percent positive mindset approach and kept themselves in the game.
That was to prove vital for the next 35 minutes as Sutton entertained the brilliant crowd for what was a fantastic fixture.
They set up slightly differently in the second half and it seemed to work well as the home side had success driving forward and won themselves a short corner not long into the half.
Fyson smashed home the rebound to get the home side on the scoreboard and Sutton were back in the game.
Not long later, great work from the likes of Nick Ellis, Sam Gray and Dan Batten meant Frazer Watt had a smashing shot towards goal to equalise for the Greens.
The midfield were starting to dominate their battles and cause Wisbech issues. Jimmy Harrison, McKenzie East, Gray and Dom Ibrahim were vital.
Another foray forward resulted in a rebound falling to Josh Baker to volley home on his backhand and send the home side storming into the lead.
Five minutes later, there was another short corner and another rebound which Baker finished perfectly on the back foot into the top right hand corner.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, Sutton held on by relieving themselves of Wisbech pressure well with long balls into the paths of the likes of Olly Taylor, Batten and Brad Sargeant, the latter being inches away from a fifth for the home side at the death.
The win capped a a simply remarkable comeback from the Greens in the second half which created a proper spectacle for the neutral as they recorded a seventh successive victory.
Table-topping Long Sutton 2nds maintained their title push in Division 3NW with a 4-0 victory over Cambridge City 5ths on Saturday.
They welcomed back to the fold Matt Holmes and James Collingwood-Smith to bolster their ranks.
Immediately from the off, Sutton stamped their authority on the game.
Luke Jackson and Collingwood-Smith worked well down the wings and Dan Plant ran the show from the midfield by linking up with Alex Canham and Eddie Hales.
Hales ran off the defender before cutting the ball back to Plant who fired home to open the scoring about six minutes into the game.
About five minutes later, through good link-up play from Jackson and Canham, the ball was fired into Plant in the D who slotted home to double the lead.
With a comfortable cushion, the pace dropped slightly up top to conserve legs for the game – in doing so allowing a scant few chances to Cambridge.
These, however, were dealt with easily by the defence of Ben Hales, Tom Baguley, Stef Fox and Matt Holmes, alongside some stellar saves by Alfie Braginton in goal.
Once the second half started, Sutton tried to regain control of the game and, with a slight formation change, it was immediate.
Short corners were won and, while the end product was lacking, the intention was still there.
The attacks kept coming and, with Ed White quarter-backing the play, it was no surprise that player of the match Plant finished off his hat-trick in style by sending the keeper the wrong way.
Again, some defensive work was carried out with relative ease, before the game was settled seven minutes from time with a decisive pass from White to Croxford, who beat a player and the keeper, before slotting into an empty net.
The win keeps Sutton four points clear at the top with six games left to go and the message being to maintain the momentum and keep the focus into a tough fortnight of fixtures.
Long Sutton ladies' first team were beaten 5-0 at St Ives while the seconds lost 3-0 against a young Newmarket 3rds.