St Albans show battling qualities in draw with Spencer

St Albans Hockey Club’s men showed their teeth and battling qualities as they salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to Spencer.

The two sides had come into the game placed second and third in the Conference East table and although they have both slipped down by one spot following Chichester's win, Saints will be pleased to have shown they are one of the better teams in the league.

The first half was goalless with neither side playing to their full potential but it was Spencer who opened the scoring in the second half as the tempo increased.

Saints were level as the game came to the end of the third quarter, Tariq Marcano slotting home, and the furious reaction of the Wandsworth-based club at the award earned one player a trip to the sin-bin with a yellow card.

And while the Tangerines were a man up, they also went a goal up, captain Matt Davey firing into the bottom corner from a short corner.

This looked to have sealed the match, but Spencer were not done and eight minutes from time, after St Albans had several chances to clear their lines, the loose ball was fired past keeper Iain Fraser to square the match.

Man of the match was 17-year-old Luke Kennedy who filled in at left half with the poise, composure and positional awareness of a seasoned campaigner.

Their next game is away to top of the table Wapping on November 9.

In the ladies section the first team went down 1-0 at home to Isca in Division One South and the fourths suffered a similar result.

The thirds, however were able to keep their positive start to the season going with a 6-2 win against Leighton Buzzard.

Liz Cleverly and Annie Barratt got two each with Marie Jones and Mar Copues-Out one as they moved one point behind the league leaders.

The fifths won 6-1, Ella Beedle getting a brace, with Gemma Little, Erin Hugo, Lydia Edwards and Nikki Davies also on target and the sixths had goals from Ellie Winter and Sarah Bennett-Hughes to thank for a 2-1 win.