Hockey round-up: Latest news from Blueharts and Stevenage

At Stevenage, the ladies' first team won 4-0 at home to Harpenden in Division Two South West to maintain their perfect start to the season.

Nikki Greaves scored twice for Stevenage. Picture: STEVENAGE HC (Image: Stevenage Hockey Club)

Nikki Greaves added another two goals to the one scored last week, opening her account on 11 minutes before rounding it off 50 minutes later.

Holly Manning and Steph Oliver got the others.

The seconds lost 4-2 away to Bedford despite Holly Portingale converting a short corner within the first five minutes.

The home side found their rhythm after that to score three unanswered goals before half-time but the second half was even, Alfie Gunther getting the Stevenage second.

The thirds lost 2-0 at Royston the fourths also went down at Bedford, beaten 6-0.

The fifths completed the sequence of losses at home to Letchworth fourths.

There was slightly better news in the men's section with only the first team falling to defeat.

They were beaten 4-3 at St Albans in Division Two South West but the seconds got the better of the team in tangerine, winning 2-1 with a Harry Wheeler brace.

Stevenage thirds beat Bedford in the highest scoring game of the day.

Things didn’t look so good for the home side early on, with young Josh Lake suffering an injury in the first minute and Bedford opening the scoring.

However, with Geoff Trew marshalling the defence and hitting some great passes out to the forwards, goals from super-sub Aiden Parker and Ben Oliver got the threes back on track.

Bedford pulled it back to 2-2 but Tim Brewer restored the lead before half-time.

Bedford equalised for a second time and then forced Stevenage keeper Paul Hemmant into an impressive double save.

A short corner made it 4-3 to Stevenage, ironically after four bites of the cherry following a short corner, Parker scoring his second.

Skipper Chris Day missed a penalty flick but that was swiftly forgotten as the energetic Saad Huda slotted home.

Brewer then got his second and although Bedford made it 6-4, he would complete his hat-trick tapping in from an acute angle.

The fourths meanwhile drew 3-3 with St Albans in Division Seven.

The visitors went into a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes but good work from Joe Gore gave Stevenage a penalty flick that Kevin Robbins converted.

The equaliser arrived on 35 minutes, Robbins again on target, this time from a penalty corner, and the second period opened with Stevenage pushing for a third.

St Albans were the ones to break that deadlock but with 58 minutes gone, Simon Russell made it 3-3 to claim a point.

Blueharts seconds beat Berkhamsted & Hemel in the East League. Picture: BLUEHARTS HC (Image: Blueharts Hockey Club)

The ladies' first team at Blueharts had to settle for a derby day draw as they were held 1-1 by Letchworth in East Division One South.

A Jay Livermore goal gave them a share of the points with the Blues lying third in the table after two games ahead of a match against leaders Old Loughtonians at home this coming weekend.

The seconds though improved on last week’s draw against Harpenden with a thrilling 3-2 win over Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead.

Blueharts started slowly and went a goal down inside the first five minutes but a great finish from Ally Antoniou put them on level terms.

However, Berkhamsted restored their lead before half-time, leaving the Blues with an uphill task in the second period.

They responded superbly as Meme Brown levelled and then quickly added another to give her side a battling victory.

A brilliant individual effort from Lyla Thomson-Wells gave the fourths a 1-0 win over Shefford & Sandy, while goals from Emilia Saul and Elsie Burston saw the fives to a hard-earned 2-0 victory against Chiltern.

The men’s first team did not fare so well in the East Premier Division, going down 7-2 to a powerful Bedford side, despite consolations from Ben Apperly and Alex Krekis.

Paul Buckland and Matt Scott were on target for the seconds but they were beaten too, 6-2 at Sudbury.

Joel Davey was the star of the show for the Men’s 5s but his hat-trick was in vain as his side went down 4-3 to a strong Vauxhall side.

But there was better news for the fourths as Sean Storey scored twice in their 4-2 win at Bedford.

The sixths made the journey to Potters Bar only to find Southgate Adelaide couldn’t raise a full side – so were handed the obligatory 5-0 concession.

After his debut hat-trick last week, Freddie Baxter was on target again for the Men’s sevenths as they drew 2-2 at Bishops Stortford, Chris Platt scoring the other.

And the newly-formed Men’s eighths produced a sparkling six-goal show against Bishop's Stortford.

James Moore got two with Max Bond, Thomas Flynn, Mark Wakeling and Dan Holder getting the others.