Wins for seven Newbury sides

It was a strong start to December for Newbury and Thatcham Hockey Club, winning seven of their 11 games.

However, there was no festive cheer for the men’s first team, whose two-game unbeaten run came to an end with a 2-1 defeat at home to Reading 3rd.

Jamie Bairstow’s second goal of the season proved in vain as Newbury, who are fifth in the South Central Men’s Division One North table, began December with a defeat.

The ladies first team experienced similar winter blues, losing 4-2 against Leighton Buzzard.

Gemma Goss and Gillian Kearins’ strikes couldn’t save Newbury, who drop to fourth bottom in the South Central Women’s Division One North table, from defeat.

There was also disappointment for the men’s second team who were unable to build on last week’s convincing win over Henwick, losing 3-0 to Eastcote 2nd in the South Central Men’s Division Two North.

There was much better news for the ladies second team, who made it back-to-back South Central Women’s Division One Thames wins, beating Wycombe 3rd 2-0 thanks to a brace from Katharine Cain, her first goals of the season.

Meanwhile, there were wins for the both men’s and ladies third teams. Two goals from Ben Cook and one each from Ed Langdon, Max Masters and Toby Walters helped the men to a comfortable 5-0 win against Sonning 3rd in the South Central Men’s Division Four North while the ladies were narrow 1-0 winners over Phoenix Reading 3rd to move up to sixth in the South Central Women’s Division Two Thames table.

The men’s fourth team were 4-1 winners over Maidenhead 3rd as a hat-trick from Andy Hastings and a strike from John Pentecost saw them leapfrog their South Central Men’s Division One Thames relegation rivals but there was no such luck for the men’s fifth team, who suffered a 2-1 defeat to Wallingford 4th in the South Central Men’s Division Two North despite Josh Plank’s goal.

The women’s fourth team were emphatic 4-0 winners as strikes from Amelia Butterfield, Grace Gillespie, Mikayla Klein and Paula Morgan saw them down South Central Women’s Division Three Thames strugglers Marlow 7th.

The women’s fifth team rounded off a successful weekend, winning consecutive South Central Women’s Division Three Thames games for the first time this season as goals from Amelie Ross and Yasmin Mateus helped them beat Amersham and Chalfont 6th 2-1.