HOCKEY ROUND-UP East League Division 1NW Wisbech 1 St Ives 1 A GOAL from Lou Smith earned St Ives a point in their opening fixture of the season at recently-relegated Wisbech. Goalkeeper Sarah Hartley performed well to keep Wisbech at bay before Smith gav

HOCKEY ROUND-UP

East League Division 1NW

Wisbech 1 St Ives 1

A GOAL from Lou Smith earned St Ives a point in their opening fixture of the season at recently-relegated Wisbech.

Goalkeeper Sarah Hartley performed well to keep Wisbech at bay before Smith gave her side the lead before the interval.

Alexis Palmer performed heroics at centre-back as Wisbech piled on the pressure but eventually the home side found a gap in Saints' defence to snatch an equaliser.

In the Cambs Leagues, Huntingdon beat Wisbech II 6-0 thanks to Bernice Bales, Kate Edwards and two each from Joan Griffiths and Sarah Chadband.

Elsewhere, St Ives Ladies II won 1-0 at Cambridge City III thanks to Louisa Scotney, while two goals from Pauline Hammond did not stop the thirds going down 4-2 at Cambridge Nomads II.

St Neots Ladies III ran out 9-1 winners at Welwyn thanks to hat-tricks from Charlie Gillam and Juliana Dickinson, plus singles from Danielle Shipley, Bev Reid and Kelly Bingham.

In men's hockey, St Ives went down 3-2 to Upminster in a pre-season friendly despite goals from Joe Brennan and Dave Land.

A goal from Matthew Chitty could not prevent a youthful St Ives II side going down 2-1 at home to Letchworth II.

St Ives III slumped to a 4-2 defeat at Shefford and Sandy II despite goals from Andy Moore and Richard Corbett.

St Ives IV earned a 4-3 win against Letchworth IV in the East Men's League Division 5NW despite falling two goals behind in the first 10 minutes.

In spite of the poor start St Ives goalkeeper Adam Maltby made some heroic saves before George Richards pulled a goal back.

Letchworth extended their lead from a short corner but after a team-talk from captain Stuart Bryden St Ives emerged with renewed purpose after the break.

The defensive trio of Andrew Bunting, Matt Burton and Simon Fairhall held strong and midfielders Bryden, Tom Jenner, Michael Jenner and Ross Gibson renewed the attack, supported by Ollie McGlashen's runs.

On the right, Richards slipped a pass into the centre for Jamie Bunting to net and soon after Matt Chitty set up Bunting again.

It was left to Gibson to seal the win when he sneaked the ball past the goalkeeper at the near post.