Goss strike can’t prevent talk of the drop as Newbury and Thatcham fall further into trouble following narrow defeat to Aylesbury

Newbury and Thatcham Hockey Club’s women’s first team sunk further into trouble following a 2-1 defeat at home to Aylesbury on Saturday.

The ladies fell to a third successive defeat despite Gemma Goss’ third goal of the season, leaving them level on points with bottom side Slough 2nd and five points behind third-from-bottom Milton Keynes.

The firsts, who have just one win and four points from 12 South Central Women’s Division 1 North matches this term, travel to third placed Buckingham 2nd this weekend.

There was much better news for the second team, who have a two point cushion at the top of the South Central Women’s Division 1 Thames table after a 2-0 win over strugglers Henley 3rd.

The seconds, who ascended to the summit following their thrilling win over title rivals Staines last week, made it five straight victories after Katy Hall and Mary Cavanagh continued their fine scoring form with well-taken goals.

Meanwhile, the ladies’ third team made it 12 South Central Women’s Division 2 Thames wins from 12 as Katharine Cain’s seventh goal of the campaign fired them to a 1-0 triumph over the fourth team, who are third from bottom, in a hotly-contested intra-club clash.

The men’s first team sat out the weekend’s action while the second team fell to a third successive defeat, losing 3-1 to mid-table Marlow 3rd despite Chris Randall’s first goal of the season.

A brace from Oliver Soames – taking his tally to 13 goals in just seven games this term – as well as strikes from Aleksey Storchak and Francois Kilian inspired the third team to a 4-2 win over South Berkshire 3rd, extending their lead at the top of the South Central Men’s Division 4 North table to nine points.

Elsewhere, Willoughby Jordan’s fifth goal of the campaign proved powerless to prevent the men’s fourths from slipping to an emphatic 4-1 defeat to high-flying Wycombe 3rd, their first loss since November 4th.

Archie Wood’s goal was enough to earn the fifth team a point in a 1-1 draw with Marlow 6th while the men’s masters came out on top in an 11 goal epic, thrashing Winchester Wizards 8-3.

Johnny Neil struck a hat-trick, Blue Nolan, Rogan Lang, Richard Pool and Stephen Davies were all on target while Neil McCullen scored his eighth goal in 10 games as the masters ended a run of three defeats in a row.

The men’s sixth team came out on the wrong side of another high-scoring contest, losing 6-4 to Marlow 7th.

Top scorer Brad Arlington bagged a brace while Justin Smit and Paul Dalgarno also found the back of the net but the sixths, who have conceded 15 goals in their last four games, slipped to a first defeat in three.

The women’s fifth team failed to score for the third time in four games and slumped to a 2-0 defeat to league leaders South Berkshire 5th, their third loss in their last five matches.