BASINGSTOKE Hockey Ladies moved to the top of the South Women’s League Division 3B, after an excellent 5-0 victory over visiting Andover.

The home side now head the table on goal difference with just two games left in their campaign, the first being a trip to Surbiton on Saturday.

Basingstoke opened the scoring after just three minutes as after numerous saves Catriona Bausor scored.

The home side continued to apply pressure and Roxy O’Dea, Claire Bowman and Annalise Whitehead created opportunities and won short corners.

Andover had very little possession in the first half and the home side were unlucky not to extend their lead.

The second half opened with a great save from Basingstoke goalkeeper Gemma Carswell.

Roxy O’Dea (pictured) was unlucky not to score with a powerful strike, but calmly converted the rebound on the next short corner to make it 2-0.

An Andover hit from the top of the D forced Cath McCormick to deflect it wide of the goal.

Basingstoke followed this up with three short corners and Rachael Bomphrey put the ball just wide of the post after a Catriona Bausor drive.

Shortly after, Kirsty Kent played a ball straight through the Andover defence and Mel Trevaskis picked up the rebound before hitting the ball on the move to Ruth Crawford, who skilfully deflected it in the air straight into the goal.

Basingstoke’s continuous attacking allowed the defenders to push forward, with Steph Hazell making crucial tackles and distributing the ball to the forwards in order to create even more opportunities.

Andover won a short corner which forced Carswell to make a crucial save. Immediately after Kirsty Kent drove towards the D and sent the ball straight to Annalise Whitehead on the far post, who sent it bobbling just wide.

Another short corner was slipped to Roxy O’Dea who sent the ball straight into the top corner to make it 4-0.

A penetrating through-ball from Claire Bowman left Annalise Whitehead one-on-one with the goalkeeper. She took it around her and slotted it into the goal to complete a great win.

The ladies seconds lost 2-0 to Winchester and the thirds won 4-2 against Petersfield. In the men’s section, the first team beat visiting Petersfield 8-1 in their top of the table clash.

Petersfield scored first, but Greg Smith equalised with a penalty flick into the top left corner, after Jacques Lourens’ short corner was saved on the line by a defender’s foot.

Josh Weir scored the first of his hat-trick following a great move and then Lourens made it 3-1.

As half time approached, Weir scored one of the seasons finest individual goals by beating three defenders before finishing on the reverse past the goalkeeper’s left knee.

In the second half, Smith, Lourens and Weir’s hat-trick took the score to 7-1, before Alex Miller scored following up from a short corner save when the goalkeeper was caught off guard and kicked the ball into his own net.

Basingstoke fifth team drew 3-3 at Swanage and Wareham, even it the home side took a 2-0 lead.

Karl Neighbour opened the visitor’s account with a reverse stick goal before half time.

In the second half, Basingstoke created chances and Stefan Bonser managed to put the ball away with a sweeping hit to equalise. A quick retaliation gave the home team the lead, but in the last few seconds of the match, Swanage conceded a penalty flick, which Nick Horsey calmly converted to secure the draw.