Hockey girls defend well to claim victory (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Hockey girls defend well to claim victory

2:00pm Saturday 9th February 2013 in Sport

BASINGSTOKE hockey Ladies fourths claimed a convincing and well-deserved 4-0 victory at home to Petersfield.

The close-knit defence of Camilla Jacobs, Jo Scriven and Kirsty Novis, along with consistent long-range hits by Miranda Smith, meant the visitors saw few opportunities to enter the Basingstoke D.

This allowed the hosts to gain significant advantage as Hayley Rouse netted twice and Georgie Smith grabbed the third goal to give Basingstoke a comfortable lead at the break. The second-half produced several scoring opportunities, with Laura Baskeyfield adding a fourth.

The Ladies’ first string remained second in the league after they came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against visiting third-placed Wimbledon.

Alexa Kearns scored their first goal and Fi Holdcroft left the otherwise inspired Wimbledon goalkeeper on the floor before lifting the ball home for the equaliser.

The team face a double header this weekend, taking on Richmond at home at Down Grange (start time 11.45am) before travelling to Trojans on Sunday.

The seconds were no match for Aldershot and Farnham, even though they showed flurries of great play in the first-half, with Caroline Mackay and Julia Burnett linking up down the right and Janine White battling in central defence. Basingstoke had two penalty corner chances and several shots on goal, but in the end lost 6-0.

The ladies thirds beat visiting Isle of Wight 1-0. The home side had a good first-half, with Nicola Ball defending strongly. Ellie Pearson broke the deadlock soon after the break, finding the net for the game-winning goal after a run down the right from Jenny Rust.