Newbury & Thatcham Hockey hope to end on a high note

Newbury & Thatcham men will be looking to end the season on a high note.

They have been resigned to a mid-table finish for several weeks now, and on Saturday they slipped to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Wallingford.

Christian Alewood set up player of the match Alex Philp for their lone goal.

Now Newbury will look to take maximum points from their final two South Central Division 1 North games – away to Wycombe 1st on Saturday then at home to Banbury 2nd on March 29.

Newbury’s 2nd XI will enjoy another season in Division 2 North next season, despite going down 3-1 to Staines 2nd.

Mark Hutchinson was on target for Newbury, while star man was Peter Davis.

Newbury 3rds produced an excellent display to see off Wycombe 2nd in Division 3 North.

Aleksey Storchak was outstanding for Newbury, scoring twice, assisting for Guy West’s goal and being named man of the match.

Newbury 4ths’ outside promotion hopes were finally killed off this week as they lost 3-1 to Wycombe 3rd.

They needed to win the game and take maximum points from their final two matches to have any chance of a top-two spot.

But those hopes disappeared inside five minutes as Wycombe scored twice.

They went 3-0 up at the break and although Matt Wylie pulled one back for Newbury, it was too little, too late.

James Wood scored twice as Newbury 6th clinched an exciting 3-2 win over Eastcote Eagles in Division 3 Thames.

Philip Vijoen added the other, while Henry Peters was named man of the match.

Newbury & Thatcham women produced one of their best performances of the season as they out-gunned third-placed Witney 2nd in South Central Division 2 North.

Witney started brightly and the Newbury defence had to work hard to keep them at bay.

But Newbury were quick in attack and Gill Kearins opened the scoring from a tight angle.

Before long they had doubled their advantage, although Witney narrowed the gap when they converted a penalty corner.

But Newbury led 3-1 at the break and cruised to an emphatic win.

Kearins added a second, while Gemma Goss scored four times, including a penalty stroke and a penalty corner.

The player of the match award went to Amy Cowan for her excellent performance in midfield.

Newbury 2nd beat Wallingford 3rd 1-0 – and now they're hoping Sonning 2nd will do them a huge favour this week.

Rosie Tregear scored the only goal to see off Wallingford and stay five points behind leaders Staines 2nd in Division 1 Thames.

So Newbury need Sonning to beat Staines this week – and then all would rest on a winner-takes-all shootout with Staines at Henwick on the final day of the season on March 29.

In the same division, Newbury 3rd clinched a vital point with a 1-1 against Wycombe 3rd, Jessica Burbage hitting their goal.

Newbury's 4th XI put up a battling display before going down 2-1 to Sonning 4th in Division 2 Thames.

Nicole Allen was on target for Newbury, thanks to an assist from player of the match Florence Crew.

Joanne Bathe was outstanding for Newbury 5th in their 2-0 defeat at home to Staines 4th in Division 4.