Men’s hockey round-up: Double figures for in-form Spalding 4th as Jacob fires four

Jacob Drew helped himself to a fantastic four-goal haul as Spalding 4th romped to a 10-1 derby win over Bourne Deeping 5th in East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NW on Saturday.

It’s now five wins from seven games for high-flying Spalding, who are second in the table and just three points behind leaders Wisbech 3rd.

Drew’s four goals were the obvious highlight of the Glen Park success, but there were also strikes from Ben Scholes (2), Tom Bland, David Burrell, Matt Hicks and Oliver Smith to celebrate on the day.

Up in Division 2NW, it’s now six defeats from as many games for Long Sutton 1st after they went down 4-1 at Norwich Dragons 1st.

Two carbon-copy goals saw Sutton up against it early on, but they were back in the game at 2-1 when Nick Ellis crossed for player-of-the-match Dan Batten to score.

They then failed to capitalise on eight short corners after the break, with their profligacy punished by two late goals from the hosts.

In Division 3NW, Spalding 2nd failed to keep their solid start to the season going after suffering a 2-1 reverse against visitors St Ives 2nd at Glen Park.

The influential Steve Rogers the scorer for Spalding, but they are now seventh in the table after a third loss of the season.

Meanwhile, Spalding 5th battled out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Leadenham 3rd on home soil.

Spalding enjoyed a slight majority of the play and created some good chances in the game, while Leadenham’s fast-paced attack saw the home side holding firm until the last period of the game.

Leadenham took the lead in the first half with Spalding unable to clear the lines and the ball was stabbed home at the far post.

However, the 5ths – who had five 13-year-olds in the team – got back to parity with a fabulous first time strike from Adolpho Chantre after great work from Harry Maplethorpe and Harry Blackman in midfield – with the half finishing 1-1.

Spalding took the lead through Jason Naylor’s firm shot from a short corner, but they were pegged back soon after when Leadenham scored after another quick break.

To Spalding’s credit they kept going and re-took the lead through another Naylor corner strike, a flick that went in via a defender’s stick to reinstate the one goal cushion.

But Leadenham struck back in the closing minutes to equalise and ultimately the game finished 3-3.