Davis Wood Hockey League

East Central Division One

Wotton-under-Edge 2nds 10 Swindon 3rds 0

WOTTON completely dominated this game from start to finish with a hat-trick from Ed Sonnex helping the blues to a comprehensive win in the first league game of 2014.

Blues keeper Charlie Thomas did not touch the ball and Swindon did not even enter the home D throughout the match.

Wotton were denied an early goal despite some fine build up play and some frustrations began to creep in; but the hosts stuck to their game plan and goals started to arrive.

Steve Dexter opened the scoring, with Andy Stockley following up soon after.

Sam Willcox made it three with a lovely link up with Jago Cropper and Stockley after dispossessing a Swindon player in his own half.

After the break Sonnex added to his tally with a well taken goal from the top of the D and completed his hat-trick with another cool finish before the end.

Bruce Dunham scored his first from a penalty corner and then made it two from close range in the second half.

Cropper completed a fine penalty corner move to score his first goal for the seconds, capping a man of the match performance.

Dan Jones also capped another good display by getting on the scoresheet.

In amongst the carnage the young Swindon keeper had an outstanding game, making several saves that defied logic and kept Wotton from completely running amok.

Wotton rose to fourth place in the division but face a much sterner task when they travel to take on Swindon seconds this weekend.

• Wotton firsts lost 4-2 at Penarth in De Cymru and The Marches One.

The Marches Division Two

Wotton-under-Edge 3rds 1 Gloucester City 4ths 0

WOTTON produced their most highly disciplined and hard-working team effort of the season to see off high-flying Gloucester.

After a cagey start from both sides, the Blues’ young midfield, in which Benjy Wells was outstanding, started moving the ball around nicely and kept pressure on the visitors’ defence.

A strong run by the lively Callum Niddrie saw him flattened when in on goal and Chris Price coolly converted the resulting penalty stroke.

Wotton showed that they had learned lessons from the first half of the season by closing down Gloucester’s playmakers and the resulting frustration saw one of them sin-binned.

Price had an outstanding game in supporting both attack and defence, helped by his developing partnership with Mike Froggatt in the middle of the pitch.

It was all Wotton for the opening 15 minutes of the second half but poor finishing in front of goal let the visitors off the hook and they started to press such that the Blues lost their composure and resorted to a long ball game.

The defensive back four of Tim Saunderson, Matt Wong, Ben Eames and Roy Hewish, brilliantly marshalled by Saunderson, put on a faultless display to keep the game safe for Wotton and Gloucester’s only legitimate shot on target in the whole match was well-saved by keeper Jeremy Hull.

West Women's Hockey League

Berkeley Division One

Westberries 3rds 1 Wotton-under-Edge 2

IN THE autumn Wotton beat Westberries 7-1 and were expecting a reasonably comfortable return to league hockey when they visited the bottom of the table side at Coombe Dingle.

In the event they had to grind out a 2-1 win having gone a goal down in the opening minute.

The adrenaline from conceding the early goal improved Wotton’s alertness and they began to take control of the match from about five minutes in.

After 15 minutes they levelled when a sizzling drive from the 25 by Beccy Chalmers was deflected in by the perfectly positioned Leila Gray.

Wotton continued to press in the second half and won a series of penalty corners, the fifth of which was eventually converted by Sharron Bates after Emma Chalmers’ disguised injection caught the Westberries defence unaware.

Wotton had a strong team, but no-one was in completely top form and Westberries owed much to their keeper, who stopped every one of the many direct shots the Wotton attack delivered.

* Wotton-under-Edge seconds lost 2-1 at home to Badminton seconds in Berkeley Division Three