Hockey round-up: Super Long Sutton 1st start year with a battling Bury draw

Long Sutton 1st kicked off their 2019 fixtures in East Men’s Hockey League Division 2N with a fine 2-2 draw against high-flying Bury St Edmunds 1st on Saturday.

The game started with a high tempo and with quality which would not have been out of place in higher divisions.

Defensively, Brad Whitmore, Stefan Fox, Tom Baguley, Tom Burton and Harry Synott were in unison and were aided well by Dan Oldfield after Burton was taken out under friendly fire from a team-mate.

Dan Batten, Josh Baker, Tyler Hagen, Sam Markille, Jacob Synott and Nick Ellis buzzed around in midfield, while Alex Canham ran tirelessly up front.

The only thing the game lacked for most of the first half was a goal and, while it was the team from Suffolk who scored first, this did not deter the home side and they equalised with a well-worked goal from Jacob Synott after excellent work from Batten.

The scores were level at half-time, with captain Fox giving his usual speech in a bid to keep the outstanding first-half performance going.

The game carried on at a great pace and to an outstanding standard, with chances coming at both ends. It was the team from the home of Greene King that took the lead again from a well hit short corner, but Sutton’s green kings were not to be defeated.

Indeed, after a period of pressure, Baker scored from the edge of the D with a shot hit so hard that the keeper barely saw it.

The game continued and despite a series of short corners at the end of the match, Sutton saw out the result and shared the points with the team that finished the day top of the division.

Overall it was a great performance and a fantastic launch pad for the run of games through to the end of the season for Sutton.

• Long Sutton 2nd romped to a 6-2 victory over Thetford 1st in Division 4NW to go two points clear at the summit.

Luke Jackson (2), Josh Fyson (2), Andy Shore and Luke Proctor got the goals.

Saturday’s fixtures: Men – Blueharts 1st v Spalding 1st (1.30pm); Long Sutton 1st v Norwich City 3rd (1pm); Spalding 2nd v Spalding 3rd (2pm); Cambridge City 5th v Long Sutton 2nd (1.30pm); Spalding 4th v Cambridge South 4th (3.30pm); Spalding 5th v Bourne Deeping 6th (2pm); Alford 2nd v Long Sutton 3rd (2pm).

Women – Spalding 1st v Newmarket 1sr (12.30pm); Alford 1st v Long Sutton 1st (11am); Horncastle 1st v Spalding 2nd (11.30am); Spalding 3rd v Horncastle 2nd (11am); Long Sutton 2nd v Leadenham 1st (2.30pm).