McCabe's men are magic while ladies back on song

Newbury and Thatcham Hockey Club bounced back from their thumping 5-1 defeat at Oxford Hawks III with a 2-0 win over South Central Men’s Division 1 North leaders Marlow II.

Hallam Kelly scored his fourth goal in three games while Doug Clayton struck for the first time this season as Newbury and Thatcham unseated table toppers Marlow.

The shutout was a second clean sheet in three games for captain Lawrence McCabe, who was full of praise for his side’s impressive performance.

He said: “We went into the game really low on confidence, we’d been smashed by Hawks and were facing the unbeaten league leaders.

“It just goes to show how unpredictable the league can be, we controlled the game.

“We played really well, we were dominant at times, we were the better team.

“We went away from the game so much happier, I think it’ll instill some belief back into the team.

“We’re hoping we can build on this now, I think it’s a result that has the potential to re-invigorate us.

“We know we can beat anyone on our day, now we’ve shown we can do it.”

McCabe and his side met before training in the week before the game to pick apart their crushing defeat against Oxford Hawks and discuss how to bounce back.

“We had some time to reflect, to think about how and why we’d been beaten,” he said.

“We wanted to re-outline our aims and expectations, to think about where we want to be.

“We had a really strong training session and I think that led into the weekend, we were excellent.”

Newbury can now look forward to a two week break having been awarded a bye in the first round of the cup and having no league game scheduled the following weekend.

When they do return in November, McCabe’s men travel to bottom side Yateley and he’s confident his side can start to build up a head of steam.

He said: “We’re certainly hoping to keep some momentum going, we’ll come back refreshed and ready to go.

“We should be aiming to take points from all of our games before Christmas, let’s see how far that can take us.”

Elsewhere, there was more disappointment for the men’s second team, whose winless run extended to four matches following a 3-1 defeat against Henley II.

Newbury and Thatcham have just one point from their first four league matches, and sit second bottom in the South Central Men’s Division 2 North table.

There was better news for the third team who picked up their second win of the South Central Men’s Division 4 North season, thrashing Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead II 5-1.

A brace from Mark Chapman and goals from Ben Grindley, Ed Langdon and Francois Killian helped them to a comprehensive win that moves them up to fourth in the table.

Meanwhile, goals from Chris Obin and Christian Somerville secured the fourth team a valuable point against Wallingford III.

The result leaves them in seventh in the South Central Men's Division 1 Thames table.

Meanwhile, Newbury and Thatcham Hockey Club Ladies picked up a much-needed first South Central Women’s Division 1 North win of the season thanks to a 4-1 win at Aylesbury.

The win is Newbury's first three points of the campaign following a difficult start to the season that saw them lose their first three games.

The win moves them up one place to 10th ahead of the visit of second bottom side Wallingford this weekend.

The second team maintained their unbeaten start to their South Central Women’s Division 1 Thames season, drawing 2-2 in a top of the table clash with Reading IV.

Goals from Romilly Reynolds and Steph Joannides ensured Newbury and Thatcham remain on top of the table and ahead of Reading on goal difference.

The third team’s match against Amersham and Chalfont was postponed, leaving them ninth in the South Central Women’s Division 2 Thames table having won twice and lost twice in their first four games.

There was a first defeat of the season for the ladies fourth team, who lost 1-0 to league leaders Windsor III and dropped to third in the league table.

The ladies welcome seventh placed Sonning IV this weekend.

Meanwhile, the fifth team suffered a third successive 3-0 defeat on the bounce, losing to South Berkshire IV.