St Neots hockey roundup: Men’s 2s maintain unbeaten run, Women’s 1s fall.

St Neots hockey had a mixed weekend, with the Men’s 2s keeping their unbeaten run, the Women’s 4s earning a draw, and several other teams experiencing defeats.

St Neots Men’s 2s returned from the winter break with a 5-1 win away at Spalding 3s. Anthony Holmes opened the scoring from a penalty corner after six minutes, and Jack Percival added two further goals before half-time following another short corner and a defensive error. In the second half, Spalding pulled a goal back, but Saints responded with two late strikes from Andrew Pope to secure a comfortable victory, keeping them unbeaten this season and two points off the league leaders.

The Men’s 1s drew 2-2 with Cambridge University 3s in a game hosted in Cambridge due to ongoing pitch issues. Olly Holmes put Saints ahead before University equalised shortly after. Phil McMorris restored the lead in the second half, but a second penalty corner allowed Cambridge to level, leaving Saints in close contention with their rivals.

St Neots Men’s 3s remain without a point this season after a 12-0 defeat to Cambridge Nomads 2s, while the 4s narrowly lost 4-3 to Ely City 4s after a late fightback from Chris Bates and Steve Moore, who scored twice.

On the women’s side, the 1s were beaten 3-0 by University of East Anglia 1s in Cambridge, and the 2s lost 3-1 to Cambridge University 4s with Esther Cove scoring Saints’ only goal. The 3s hosted Spalding 3s and lost 4-2, Charlotte Duberly and Lucy Phipps scoring late for Saints in an attempt to recover from a 3-0 deficit.

The Women’s 4s played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Newmarket 3s, with Amelia Kite scoring a hat-trick to become the club’s leading scorer.