WITHAM VETS 9 BROXBOURNE VETS 1

Hockey Association Vets Trophy

Having reached the semi-finals of the Vets Trophy last year, there was a certain expectation on Witham and they delivered with a big win against Broxbourne in their first outing of this year’s competition.

Witham had a numbers advantage as Broxbourne had bought a bare 11 and this meant the more the hosts moved the ball around the more the opposition were likely to tire as the game progressed.

Witham started well and pushed Broxbourne back from the start, but the visitors held firm and turned possession into attacks of their own.

However the back line of David Grainger, Stuart Piper, Paul Field and Ian Gibbs prevented keeper Arwen James from getting involved and provided a platform to build more attacking ventures.

A quick attack down the right saw Tony Tredget fire against the keeper’s pads form an acute angle, but the ball fell to Sam Taylor, who slotted it calmly past the Broxbourne keeper.

This started a great ten minutes for Taylor, who added a further two goals in quick succession.

The second came from a short corner and the third was a reverse stick shot high past the keeper into the roof of the net.

Broxbourne had to now chase the game and pulled a goal back, but Tristan Girling quickly restored the three-goal margin at half-time with a clean strike from the right of the D that left the keeper no chance.

After the break, Witham, moved the ball sublimely, with each attack looking dangerous as Piper and Parkes surged forward and as Broxbourne tired the goals became more frequent.

Tredget slotted home number five, Girling ended a slick passing move with a sixth before making it 7-1 and goals from skipper Gavin Dixon and Lee Ward finished the job.