HE Basingstoke Hockey Club Men’s third team finally found that elusive first win and it came in great style with a 5-0 victory against Swanage and Wareham.

It was not long before Greg Smith found himself space and time to attack the D and score Basingstoke’s first, with a well-placed strike.

John Paul Vout scored a nice deflection around the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

Smith got his second goal, with Kev Robinson and Chris Cox’s strike from a short corner finalising the scoring. Craig Eales and the Basingstoke defence kept a clean sheet.

The first team hosted Sunbury and Walton Hawks and the visitors soon took the lead.

The men in red played the better hockey refocused and continued to present a constant threat to Sunbury. Will Jewkes led the charge back and released Todd Hutchinson up the right flank. Cutting in to the ‘D’ Hutchinson drew the keeper for unmarked Grant Rouse to stroke the ball home. With the clocking ticking, Graham Garrett-Lang stepped up to convert a precision drag flick to the bottom corner to win 2-1.

Basingstoke 2's had a top of the table clash against Chichester, who took an early lead before Basingstoke could settle in. Phil Stewart pulled the game back with Basingstoke’s first, followed by Liam Harrison taking Basingstoke clear, smashing it into the bottom left corner.

Harrison got his second finishing a rebound from a short corner, with Mark Easto made a rare appearance at the back post to make it 4. Chichester were able to work their way back into the game to get 2 late goals but Basingstoke held on for a crucial 3-2 victory.

Basingstoke 4’s had a convincing 7-1 win away at Hamble, with Kyle McFee opening the scoring, Jacques Lourens and Chris Jenkins got one each before half time. Hamble caught Basingstoke on the counter to make it 3-1 but Basingstoke came back to confirm the victory as Harrison Spicer and Harry Cave scored, with Kyle McFee and Chris Jenkins got their seconds, all in the last 15 minutes.

The Men’s Vikings played a young Fleet & Eweshot side. Mike Day opened the scoring, with Nick Dudman grabbing one minutes later. The Vikings continued the onslaught with Karl Neighbour scoring a hat trick before the break. Mike Day took his second from a tremendous stop from a long ball from Paul Bonser. Neighbour took his 4th of the game, then with few minutes to spare Nick Dudman added the last making the end result a 8-0 victory.

The Mens 5s lost to 1-0 to Camberley & Farnborough.

The Ladies 1s took on unbeaten top of the table Surbiton and demonstrating great skill and pace, Basingstoke started the game well soaking up Surbiton pressure, winning a penalty corner, which Clare Griffiths converted confidently. A scrappy goalmouth exchange led to Surbiton's controversial equaliser where the ball was adjudged to have crossed the goal line despite Basingstoke’s protestations and both teams playing on.

The second half was tense with Surbiton using their youth, pace and organisation to apply pressure and finally broke through Basingstoke’s defence twice taking the score to 3-1. Basingstoke are still 3rd in the league.

The Ladies 2’s welcomed Romsey and it was an even first half. In the second half, Basingstoke had long spells of possession, with some great link up play through the team, forcing a number of good saves again from the Romsey keeper. With 5 minutes to go, against the run of play, Romsey converted a single penalty corner to take the game 1-0.

Basingstoke 3s suffered a disappointing 4-1 defeat to a speedy Southampton University side this week. The first half was closely contested, and Basingstoke scored a superb penalty corner strike by Nicola Burridge, however the relentless pace of the students was too much for Basingstoke.

The Ladies 4s played Petersfield, applying pressure from the off, however could not convert. Petersfield meanwhile managed to break through and scored twice. The second half saw the better play from Basingstoke as Ulrike Maier crossed a cracking ball into Sharon Holden who finished it off by slapping it into the goal. Although Petersfield struck back, Ulrike Maier was after a goal, and finally got it, bringing Basingstoke up to 2-3. With minutes left on the clock, Basingstoke couldn’t grab an equaliser.

Havant hosted the Basingstoke Ladies 5s and since they had beaten their previous opposition 26-0, offensive play was Basingstoke’s tactic of the day. The game got off to a fast start and Basingstoke went into the second half down 2-0. The second half was more of the same as Havan peppered the Basingstoke defence. Final score 5-0.

The Ladies 6s turned out against a strong Yateley, and with end-to-end play both sides had several chances to score with Yateley converting. Basingstoke fought hard to contain Yateley side and never gave up, despite a 4-0 loss, the team continue to improve at a rapid rate and more importantly enjoy their hockey.

Basingstoke Hockey Club are looking for sponsors! If you are interested in discussing options, please contact projectpitch@basingstoke-hockey.com.