ROUND-UP Hockey
Hockey
Dragons on fire
B
ourne Deeping Ladies played Huntingdon Ladies 1sts, who are languishing in the lower half of the division. Bourne Deeping Ladies knew they had to go the whole nine yards to stay top of the table, and turned up the heat in the first 10 minutes but couldn’t find the back of the net. Great linking from defence through to midfield and upfront players gave the Dragons a few opportunities to have shots on goal which were stopped by Huntingdon’s goalie. Constant pressure led to two Dragons goals; however, this was countered by Huntingdon’s solitary goal. A morale boosting goal before half-time ensured the Dragons came out in the second half with a taste for victory, putting more pressure on Huntingdon. Players of the match Carol Murray, Emily Murray and Izzie Oakley linking up in midfield running down the right side of the park passing the ball into the D giving Oakley the opportunity to score four goals, for an 8-1 final score. The men’s second team hosted March Town expecting a top of the table fight after inflicting March’s only defeat of the season. What was to transpire was the complete opposite, with March Town’s first drubbing in years. The Dragons started the game strongly and after five minutes Stuart Biggs picked the ball up in his own half and after rounding several March defenders, drew out the keeper and calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the
WEDDINGS • PARTIES • CORPORATE
Lodge Farm
WEDDINGS• •PARTIES PARTIES• •CORPORATE CORPORATE WEDDINGS LUXURY TOILET HIRE
01858 882176
www.lodgefarmluxurytoilethire.co.uk A Luxury Loo for your Posh Do!
LodgeFarm Farm Lodge
LUXURYTOILET TOILETHIRE HIRE LUXURY 01858882176 882176 01858 www.lodgefarmluxurytoilethire.co.uk www.lodgefarmluxurytoilethire.co.uk
goal. This was followed by some sustained pressure from March but to no avail as the Dragons struck a second thanks to the ever present Biggs. A third was quick to follow, Robin Edlington won a short corner for the Dragons and a drag flick was saved by the March keeper which sprung up off his pads only to be met with an overhead smash into the goal from Ollie Browne. What happened next was farcical: Dragons keeper Joe Wray came out and misjudged the pitch of the ball, it spun, glanced off his chest to leave the March forward with an open goal – 3-1. But then some stunning play from the Dragons and excellent skill from Edlington put the ball on a plate for Biggs to tip the ball off the keeper’s toe for his hat-trick. Two minutes later the ball was picked up on the right and finally squared to captain James Taverner who smashed the ball into the bottom right of the goal. Next up was some very poor defending which allowed a March forward to pick up the ball unmarked, pick his spot and slot home for a half-time score of 5-2. In a strange second half the Dragons added four more goals and had it not been for a very well worked March goal would have walked off the pitch ecstatic but were more annoyed they couldn’t make it 10 and some of the play wasn’t as it should be – however, 9-3 was a fantastic result and a statement to the rest of the league.
D.G NORMAN AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS
Horticultural and Agricultural Repairs Lawnmower and Chainsaw Repairs TEL: 01536 770966 MOBILE: 07860 373465 Cottons Farm Buildings, Rockingham, Market Harborough LE16 8TF
www.dgnorman.co.uk
Vox Fox 12 months is a long time in football, says Steve Moody It is remarkable to think that only a year ago last month, Claudio Ranieri was leading his Leicester City side on a Champions League run that was just as improbable as the Premiership one was a year earlier. Unfortunately, it was a year ago they went out of that tournament to Sevilla, and Ranieri got his marching orders too. To many supporters it will feel like a generation ago, not 12 months, such has been the pace of change since, with his number two Craig Shakespeare surviving in the job for barely more than six months, to be replaced by much-lamented Claude Puel (remember when people didn’t think much of the Claudio Ranieri appointment either?). But City in that time under Puel have matured and look much more like a side able to weather the unceasing storm of the Premiership than the counter attacking high wire act that flamed so brilliantly and so briefly. The Frenchman has also managed personnel changes well too, and the loss to injury of such iconic players as Wes Morgan has been countered by the excellent form of youngster Aleksandar Dragovic. Riyad Mahrez has been brought back into line too a er his transfer window tantrum, and is showing great form, which suggests that Puel’s comment that he has drawn a line under the affair might well be true. For now, anyway. A recent stuffing at the hands of Man City aside (a er all, who hasn’t suffered that?), City have been steady if not spectacular in the league and sit in a solid eighth place, while continuing to move along in the FA Cup, a er a 2-1 win over Sheffield United in the fi h round. We said in this column last month they would be a good bet for the final – but in the quarterfinal this month they will have to overcome Chelsea (and a couple of old teammates), a club they have never beaten in the cup. But then, it’s been a funny old year for the Foxes, so it would be wise to expect another twist.
/// M A R C H 2 0 1 8 8 1
LuxuryLoo Looforforyour yourPosh PoshDo! Do! AALuxury 81 hockey OK.indd 61
23/02/2018 17:43