Wisbech Hockey Club men's first team relegated while third string secure title win

Wisbech Hockey Club’s men’s first team faced off against fellow relegation rivals Cambridge Nomads knowing that nothing but a win would do.

However, they got off to a terrible start and went down to a goal from a short corner.

Nobody panicked, and Wisbech started to pile the pressure on - but they were caught on the counter attack and found themselves two down. An immediate response was required, and an immediate response they got as Lewis Jackson scored.

Buoyed by this they pushed for an equaliser, but were caught out again and went 3-1 down. They continued to push and pulled one back through a Scott Welcher finish.

With ten minutes left, Jack Bass smartly finished from a short corner and it looked like the men in red were going to be the ones to grab a winner.

But Nomads fought back themselves, and with a minute to go they scored from a short corner, all but relegating Wisbech.

Meanwhile, the ladies’ first team went to Norwich on Saturday. Having beaten City earlier in the year, the Wisbech side had high hopes.

Despite Hettie West and Emma Markillie both winning short corners which Georgie Dunn and Laura Bell converted, the team’s defending wavered as they slipped to defeat. With City playing two players high, running the channels, they managed to find numerous holes.

Captain Jo Gomm said: “We have had a great season and morale is high, we will bounce back for our final game.”

The men’s 2nds hosted St Ives 3rds, finding it difficult to do the basics and making hard work of the first half, having two short corner efforts saved by a strong keeper.

After a half time roasting by manager Dom Standard, Johnny Garner converted a short corner after his wide effort was deflected in by a defender’s foot. This opened the floodgates, with Jason Mallett converting too.

Mallett got an assist for the next goal, passing across to Dan Crossley for him to slap in at the far post. George Gowler slipped in at the near post before Bradley Burton slapped in another to make it 5-0 at full-time.

The men’s 3rd team welcomed Peterborough 8s, and an unexpected loss for their top-of-the-table rivals earlier in the day meant they needed to secure only one point from the fixture to ensure a league victory.

They soon started to find some scoring opportunities, with the first half very one-sided in attack. Matthew Boyall opened the scoring and calmed the nerves from a short corner, followed by another Ciaran Lowe short corner which had broken down.

The start of the second hal brought two more goals from Lowe, two from Oli Overland and one from Matthew Boyall, leading to a 7-0 win on the day. With league victory now assured, the side celebrated after the game - with only one more remaining to end with a 100% winning record.

The men’s 4th XI took to Peterborough for their game this week, and after a slow start it was the latter who found themselves 3-0 up at half-time.

Wisbech came out in the second half with a point to prove, but the Peterborough goalkeeper and defence were resolute.

Captain Brandon said: “I’m unsure what went wrong today. We played good hockey at times, it just wasn’t our day.

“We go again next week and finish our amazing season on a high and to have secured third place we have positives to look forward on.”

The ladies’ 4th team had their last away game of the season against Cambridge South 6s on Saturday.

Their opponents scored two early goals in the first half, inspiring the Wisbech ladies to widen their game and play more effectively across the width of the pitch.

These efforts were rewarded by two goals by the end of the first half for Wisbech, drawing proceedings level.

Unfortunately due to a nasty injury to forward Amber King, the Wisbech team found themselves starting the second half with only 11 players against Cambridge’s 15.

However, they continued to dominate the game, pushing relentlessly forward through mid field to allow Zoe Parsons to find her hat-trick goal.

This was swiftly followed by a goal from captain Ashleigh Lawrence to complete a brilliant 3-2 victory.