West Women’s Hockey League

Berkeley Division One

Dursley 0 Thornbury 3

THORNBURY were made to work hard for their win against a young Dursley side.

Needing a point to retain their place in Berkeley One for next season, Thornbury could not have asked for a better start when Emma Beurschgens guided the ball home.

Thornbury might well have scored more early goals but shots were either off target or well saved.

Dursley came more into the game when their visitors relaxed and started to make basic errors either by slack passing or taking an extra step before releasing the ball.

Katie Bridgeman and Shelley Beurschgens contributed some nice touches for Thornbury and Rachael Gardner and Annie Beurschgens roamed effectively.

Sian Fuller again was a dangerous attacker for Thornbury with Vicky Ball also causing problems for the home side.

Despite a number of chances for both sides the score remained at 0-1 at the interval.

Dursley continued to pose problems for Thornbury but were unable to find the equaliser asBecky Jones and Elaine Arnold defended soundly and Bethan Brown in goal made some timely saves.

Lucy Thomas and Charlotte Fox came more into the game and Thornbury's nerves were lessened when captain Amanda McGarry deftly deflected the ball home to score a rare goal.

Shortly after, Poppy Woolnough scored the third with a well-executed individual effort.

Thornbury visit Redland seconds on Saturday for their penultimate league game of the season.

* Thornbury seconds, who were in a similar position to their senior side before the game, guaranteed their survival in Division Two with a 2-1 victory against Pucklechurch.

Tehy have another home game on Saturday when they entertain Bristol (10.30am) at Castle School.

A number of injuries and availability problems resulted in Thornbury thirds having to withdraw from their third fixture of the season at North Wilts seconds.

They are hoping to return to action on Saturday at Castle School (midday) when they entertain Wotton-under-Edge seconds.