Bad day for hockey club (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Bad day for hockey club

12:00pm Saturday 2nd February 2013 in Sport

A STRING of disappointing performances saw Basingstoke’s hockey teams all slip to defeat in Saturday’s fixtures, writes Ian Watson.

The men’s thirds had the closest result of the day as they travelled to Wimborne for their first match of 2013.

In a tight, high-tempo game, neither side could break the deadlock in the first-half. Exceptional defending by man-of-the-match Callum Saint kept the hosts at bay.

Basingstoke opened the scoring 10 minutes into the second period with a well-worked short corner as Graham Lang scored.

The hosts stepped up their game in reply, and piled pressure onto the Basingstoke defence to force an equaliser. A fortunate break gave the hosts a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, which they converted to snatch the win.

The second XI lost 3-1 in their away clash with Portsmouth and Southsea. The home side took the lead through a deflected shot early in the game and added a second from a short corner to take a 2-0 lead into half-time.

After the break, Basingstoke pulled a goal back through Jacques Lourens’s excellent finish. Despite continued pressure by the visitors, the second goal proved elusive. Portsmouth and Southsea picked up a third goal late in the game to seal the win.

The Vikings lost 5-1 to a strong Hamble side. Despite defending strongly and linking up well down the wings through Nick Brown and Paul Bonser, they fell foul of some good distribution from the Hamble midfield and conceded three goals before the break.

A smooth change of tactics at half-time allowed the visitors to take hold of the game in the second half and pressure the opposition defence. A fast-paced attack from Sam Payne and Dan Butler allowed Ben Cowdrey to capitalise at the back post and pull a goal back.

Though the Vikings were persistent in their attack, Hamble managed to find the net twice more.

In the ladies section, the IV’s travelled to Havant and came away with a 3-0 loss.

In an otherwise evenly matched game, the opposition managed to net three early goals in the first quarter to take the lead. Basingstoke’s defence closed ranks in the second-half, but the visitors were unable to close the gap.