Men s hockey Blueharts could not climb above county rivals West Herts as they shared four goals. Good possession resulted in a few early chances for Blueharts. But against the run of play, West Herts scored the first goal as some questionable marking allo

Men's hockey

Blueharts could not climb above county rivals West Herts as they shared four goals.

Good possession resulted in a few early chances for Blueharts.

But against the run of play, West Herts scored the first goal as some questionable marking allowing their centre-forward to score from close range.

Blueharts regained their momentum and continued to pressure the West Herts defence.

Just before half time, a short corner was awarded after an excellent Chris Lendrum run. John Barrett smashed the ball into the bottom right corner to bring the sides level.

The second half began just like the first, with Blueharts dominating the possession but not converting it to goals.

Then, against the run of play, a lucky deflection from a West Herts forward saw the ball squeeze in for their second.

Blueharts kept their heads up and tried desperately to get the goal back.

Jimmy Lewis and Matt Gardner came close to scoring but it was Oliver Hammond, returning from suspension, who forced the breakthrough five minutes from time. His shot was stopped on the line by a West Herts foot and a penalty stroke was awarded.

Up stepped stand-in skipper Barrett, who kept his cool and fired the ball into the top right corner to score his second and ensure the match finished even.

Letchworth won a seven-goal thriller at Maldon and Little Baddow.

Their scorers in the 4-3 victory were Tom Butler, Will Butler, Tom Wharton and James Keel.

Other scores: Letchworth II 0 Stevenage I 7; Welwyn Garden City II 1 Letchworth III 1 (Ashley Brown); Letchworth IV 0 Bishop's Stortford V 2; Letchworth VI 1 (Gary Pond) Royston IV 5.

There was a magnificent seven goals in a demolition derby day for Stevenage at Letchworth 2nds.

The visitors were hardly troubled throughout the match and it was no surprise when they took a early lead.

Paul Graves released Ollie Holt who blasted the ball home with ease.

Stevenage had numerous chances and if it had not been for a string of fabulous saves from the home keeper, would have been five or six up.

At the end of the half, Holt scored his second with a brilliant finish from an acute angle.

The second half started with Jon Oliver making it 3-0 with a powerful strike that gave the keeper no chance.

Oliver then had another disallowed before skipper Danny Blackburn weaved through two challenges before calmly placing the ball past the advancing Letchworth keeper.

Jon Oliver then got his second before top goalscorer Mike Oliver then got in on the act after a great move. He was one-on-one with the keeper and the outcome was inevitable.

Graves then had an effort go wide before Roger Barlow hit the post.

Another goal was on the cards and it duly came from Mike Oliver. It was the pick of the bunch as Oliver went through several challenges before rounding the keeper and scoring from an almost impossible angle with a ferocious drive.

Other scores: Stevenage II 3 (Steve Scholes, Matt Shaw, Henry Robinson) Southgate Adelaide 3; Shefford and Sandy II 3 Stevenage III 0; Stevenage IV 1 (Ian Brown) Southgate Adelaide III 0; Stevenage V 3 (Seb Rose hat-trick) Winchmore Hill and Enfield IV 5; Winchmore Hill and Enfield V 8 Stevenage VI 2 (Kevin Fisher, Geoff Trew).

MBDA continued their run of good form with a 3-0 home win over Berkhamsted 3rds.

Adrian Monks scored almost immediately from the start.

MBDA looked like they were capable of scoring more but poor finishing meant that the half-time scoreline was not reflective of their efforts. A first goal for many seasons from veteran winger Tony Naylor was then followed by his second to give the side three more welcome points.