HOCKEY Ashford ease drop fears with vital point

Mar 11 2009 By Jacob Murtagh, Staines News

Ashford boosted their South Premier survival hopes with a vital point against high-flying Spencer on Saturday.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, Jamie McFarland equalised early in the second-half.

And things got better for Martin Smith's men when hot-shot Jimmy Webber scored from a short corner to put them ahead.

However, they were hit by a sucker punch with 10 minutes to go as Spencer levelled.

The hosts pushed for a winner, but couldn't find the breakthrough as it ended 2-2.

Elsewhere, young-gun Anna Protheroe scored the winner for the second week running as Ashford Ladies edged out Hampstead & Westminster.

The Red & Blacks were without stalwarts Annie Neyton and Sophie Smart, but it was Ashford's youngsters who took centre stage.

Protheroe, Eline Sibia, Kelly Taylor and Liv Young were all lively in the opening stages, but the hosts had to wait until the half-hour mark to get their noses in front.

Protheroe's short corner was hammered goalwards by Jackie Parsons. Her effort was saved, but Protheroe was on hand to stroke home the rebound to bag her fifth goal of the campaign.

Ashford pushed for a second after the break, but they couldn't add to their tally.

Keeper Sam Grant kept a clean sheet for the second successive Saturday as the Red & Blacks held on for the 1-0 win. Taylor bagged the player-of-the-match prize. [25a0] SEAMUS O'CONNELL reckons Staines Ladies need to win two of their last three games to stand any chance of beating the drop after defeat at Old Loughtonians.

They occupy one of the East Conference relegation play-off positions ahead of this weekend's crunch clash with fellow strugglers Sevenoaks, who are one place and four points above them.

Alex Stacey fired them into an eight-minute lead in Essex, but two goals in as many second-half minutes put them on the back foot.

Tilly Brampton had a goal ruled out for the visitors, and Loughtonians wrapped up the points with a breakaway goal in the dying minutes as Staines went down 3-1.

Elsewhere, the men surrendered a two-goal lead as they drew at Oxford Hawks in the South Premier on Saturday.

The Middlesex men made the trip up the M40 with just 11 players, but it didn't stop them racing in front through Richard Cardigan and Sajid Ali.

But Hawks hit back after the break to snatch a 2-2 draw.