Championship

Isca A 6 Wotton-under-Edge 1sts 3

A surprise defeat for Wotton’s first XI in the Championship league.

In the first half, Wotton’s form and performance was not up to their usual standard and Isca made the most of that with three quick goals.

During the second half, Wotton played a much stronger game, with three great goals, but it wasn’t good enough.

Although Wotton’s level of fitness is very high, the Isca team's stamina was even higher, which resulted in them playing the better hockey overall in the second half and adding three more goals.

De Cymru & The Marches 2

Wotton-under-Edge A 2nds 1 Whitchurch B 0

0 Wotton second team's game started with Whitchurch immediately piling on the pressure.

However, the Wotton defence of John Shovelton, Neil Forsyth, Leo Murray-Davey and Ben Eames held out well, stopping most attacks, with goalkeeper Charlie Thomas mopping up their occasional mistakes with well-timed saves including a great dive to his right to stop a drag flick.

Wotton then upped the pressure, playing the ball around nicely, keeping possession through the midfield of Greg Willcox, Steven Dexter, Richard Goodwin and Chris Price to create chances for the regularly rotating forwards, Andy Stockley, James Bull, Archie Cropper and Ben Butter.

The possession eventually paid off with a bullet pass from skipper Forsyth, which was deflected into the goal by Stockley shortly before the end of the first half.

The second half began with some “champagne hockey” as Wotton passed the ball around quickly and accurately to show the tiring Whitchurch that they weren't going to give up this lead easily.

With constant end-to-end play, the agitated Whitchurch gave away constant fouls, leading to a yellow card for one player.

In contrast, Wotton kept their composure and kept Whitchurch out, with well-timed challenges, giving Thomas little to do in the second half.