Davis Wood Hockey League

De Cymru & Marches Division One

Wotton-under-Edge 3 Bristol and West 0

HARRY Willcox hit a fortuitous hat-trick as slick Wotton maintained their spot at the top of the league with a comfortable win over Bristol and West.

Style paid dividends and with a short corner came Willcox's first attempt, claiming a rebound goal off Ryan Howarth's flick.

Wotton then became almost complacent. However, the effort and work rate made up for mistakes and Bristol and West didn't score, George Lampkin truly commanding everyone into regimented order.

In the second half Wotton were by no means perfect but they added to their tally.

Willcox claimed a second goal, which was really just a pass to a defender who pulled off a miracle deflection into the goal’s near-side netting.

He then completed a dubious hat-trick with a creative bit of skill to pull the ball away from the keeper and loft it into the goal.

Star man: Rob Davies.

East Central Division One

Leominster 0 Wotton-under-Edge 2nds 1

AFTER a gruelling trip for their furthest away day of the season, Wotton arrived at a pitch renowned for its plethora of sand, causing an infuriatingly slow pace to the game.

Despite having some key midfielders missing, Wotton managed to keep their 100 per cent start going.

Much like the pitch, Wotton started slow and, being used to a faster pace, struggled to cope with the unfamiliar conditions.

A rock solid defence from Neil Forsyth, Nic Roberts, Jago Cropper and Leo Murray-Davey made sure that the opposition didn’t score.

With the first half coming to a close, captain Matthew Tait intercepted an attempted clearance before slotting the ball through to Greg Willcox.

His deft first touch bought him space as he struck with brute force, almost smashing the backboard to pieces.

Wotton held on to this slender lead into the break.

The second half started very much the same as some questionable challenges restricted Wotton from counter-attacking and finding any form of rhythm.

This resulted in more pressure from Leominster, who forced a world class save out of Charlie Thomas, diving through the air to pluck the ball away from the top corner with his stick.

Man of the match, Neil Forsyth, continued to frustrate the opposition forwards with a ruthless display.

Wotton held on for a gruelling win, proving their resilience and keeping the momentum going for the season, at a ground where victories have been seldom found.

The Marches Two

Cleevillians 2nds 0 Wotton-under-Edge 3rds 7

WOTTON started this game with a high tempo, with Sam Willcox scoring within the first five minutes.

The visitors continued pressing and creating opportunities throughout the first half without being able to capitalize on these chances.

Then a drive down the right hand side by Seb Culpepper resulted in a short corner, with Willcox flicking the ball into the net for his second goal.

At the start of the second half it seemed as if the opposition had fallen asleep – Wotton made the most of this with a short corner that found its way into the back of the net off Pat Carr’s stick.

Willcox quickly scored again with a reverse shot into the back post.

Next to have a go was Steve Dexter with a beautiful shot to the bottom corner that Roy Hewish nicked off the line.

Cleevillians did start to press deep into the second half but Wotton were having none of it thanks to a glorious jab by Callum Niddrie to set Willcox running up the pitch, finally slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

Another run down the right gave Steve Marfleet the chance to slot the last of seven goals firmly into the back corner of the net.

Goalie Chris Barton had little to do all game thanks to a solid, unforgiving defence.