Pearson's winner moves hockey ladies up to third (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Pearson's winner moves hockey ladies up to third

2:00pm Friday 22nd March 2013 in Sport

BASINGSTOKE Ladies III hockey team moved into third place in the league after they won 3-2 at Hamble.

The home side opened the scoring, but thanks to precision saves from goalkeeper Nicky Ball and solid defence by Bev Mossop, the score was still 1-0 at half-time.

Basingstoke’s Jo Lockyer equalised, only for Hamble to score a second.

A Jenny Rust strike was finished off by Lockyer to make it 2-2, before Rust flicked a ball towards the goal and Ellie Pearson flicked it over the goalkeeper’s pads for the winner.

The fourth team were no match for a clinical Yateley side who won 3-0 thanks to three first-half goals – although Basingstoke did rally in the second-half thanks to Camilla Jacobs’ leadership.

Basingstoke ladies’ first team ladies threw away their chances of a top three finish with a 2-0 home loss to Lewes. They will want to put on a much improved performance in their last game of the season away to local rivals Yateley this Saturday.

In the first of a double-header, the ladies second XI lost at home to an unbeaten Andover side 3-0 and the second game saw them lose to Winchester.

Goalkeeper Gemma Allen made some key saves in the Winchester game and Sarah Warwick and Janine White linked well to challenge Winchester's defence.

It looked as though Basingstoke had done enough to bag a draw, but a Winchester penalty corner was converted at the death.

In the men’s section, the first team lost 4-2 to visiting Winchester. Basingstoke took the lead with a quick breakaway finished by Mark Smith.

The home side then doubled their lead with a second breakaway by Grant Rouse, finding Ben Shaughnessy at the far post for the tap in.

Winchester hit back, scoring twice to level the game by half-time.

The visitors added two more goals after the break, including a penalty stroke.

The second team lost 4-1 away at Southampton, despite taking the lead in the first-half through Luke Warren.

Two goals from penalty corners gave Southampton the lead and they scored twice more late on.

The third team lost 5-1 at home to Winchester. A fast-paced game saw Basingstoke go one down early on, but they then levelled as George Waller scored his first goal of the season.

The second-half saw a fine display of goalkeeping from Winchester to shut down the home side’s attack and a very physical Winchester front line scored four more goals. Goalkeeper Jorge Spicer Martinez made an impressive debut for the team.

The fourth team won 1-0 against Bournemouth in an evenly matched game. Phil Stewart made a great cross to Pete Wood but the ball flew over both the goal and the fence, leaving the score 0-0 at half-time.

The second half saw another great cross from Stewart, from which Wood scored the winner.