SOUTH DIVISION TWO

Eastcote Ladies 4 

Oxford Ladies 2

Eastcote Ladies built on their unbeaten pre-season form by outgunning newly promoted Oxford on Saturday.

They had to defend stoutly early on  before a quick counter caught Oxford on the break  with striker Sophie Castle finishing coolly against the run of play

Eastcote began to play some good flowing hockey and a second goal came just before the break when Claire Devereaux wrong footed the keeper and then unselfishly passed for Catherine Ashton to convert.

The momentum was maintained and another good attack saw Sian Bailey release the ball to Devereaux in the D, who moved the keeper and then reverse stick flicked the ball into the net. Oxford clawed a goal back from a  well struck short corner, but Eastcote restored the two goal lead when captain Leanne Parkinson dived on to the end of a shot from Devereaux to assist the ball into the far corner of the goal.

In the closing minutes, a defensive error gifted Oxford a consolation goal, but coach Adam Mulholland was delighted with the team performance and the three points ahead of a trip to Brighton & Hove.  

Elsewhere, the seconds, thirds and fifths all suffered heavy defeats, but the fourths notched up a great 1-0 win against PHC Chiswick with the winning goal coming from promising youngster Nathalie Telfer.

Meanwhile, the U14 Boys played two league games on Sunday. A 3-1 victory over Wycombe sew Bryn Jones, Ashane Wijesuriya and Leeran Talker on target for the A team, while the Dragons side lost 3-2 with goals from Rafael Allen and Bradley Simmons.

Eastcote men’s first team continued their build up to the league campaign with a hard fought draw at Yateley.

Eastcote dominated early play with great runs from new

boy James Long, but could not make the breakthrough. It was Yateley who took the lead from a penalty corner despite a great effort to save by captain Adam Cro.

Eastcote hit back strongly after the interval, and took the lead with two goals including a fine strike from James Berger, only for Yateley to grab a late equaliser.

The seconds were crushed 8-1 by West Hampstead with just a Scott Read consolation, while the thirds drew 2-2 with Amersham & Chalfont with Harvey Preston and Simon Samuels on target.

The fourths lost 4-3 to West Hampstead with two goals from Lackshya Sethi and one from Olly Aylott.

Meanwhile, it was a bad day in more ways than one as Old Uxonians (pictured) were beaten 4-0 by West Hampstead fourths in their opening match in Middlesex Division Two.

Helen Poole and Jane McDermott both suffered injuries, the latter requiring hospital treatment, in what was a very difficult afternoon for Uxonians for whom Liz Laird was player of the match.